Living with Determination
by WhateverNever
Summary: Chie and Kanji finally leave Inaba, tired with three years of the past gnawing away at them. Will Yakushima Island finally allow them move on, or are there some things you can never run away from? A P3/4 cast crossover, with sprinklings of bad language.
1. Prologue

_It was your standard modern fairy tale. A brave newcomer rallies the townsfolk into fighting an unspeakable foe. Utilising the power of persona, a physical manifestation of your true self (for better or worse), they fought the shadows that resided inside the strange world of the TV, and won. Yu Narukami was a true hero. With the help of his friends, the energetic teen superstar Rise Kujikawa, elegant heiress Yukiko Amagi, his loyal partner Yosuke Hanamura, the soft centred punk Kanji Tatsumi, the meat-loving martial artist Chie Satonaka, mysterious detective Naoto Shirogane, and the childish supernatural Teddie, the fog was cleared from his town, uncovering the truth of who was behind the serial killings, and the true nature of the midnight channel. But his story is over. This is a story of those he left behind… _

Kanji Tatsumi had changed; that was never up for any arguments. But looking in the mirror, his hair now back to a slick of bleached blonde, gaudy rings over the more conservative studs he had recently been adopting, on top of a leather jacket he hadn't worn since his first year of high school, he had his doubts.

But the change was necessary, or so he had been told. 'Security guards have to look tough, not dorky!' Chie had told him emphatically. It took a lot of effort for the tailor to reign in his disagreement, to not mention the hours he spend painstakingly choosing how his new wardrobe, how the fit was so perfect that he only ever looked kickass, and how she should just stick it already!

The airport bathroom was empty, unsurprising considering the late hour. Chie had insisted on a cheap flight that would arrive at 3AM, and considering his lack of real financial status, he was in no position to argue. Laying his gym bag on the floor, lamenting once again everything that didn't fit inside, he stared down his mirror-self right in the eyes, daring him to run. He rested his forehead on the reflective surface and closed his eyes. _What am I doing here, _he thought helplessly, screwing his eyes faster and faster shut.

It was all Naoto's fault of course. Ever since that impromptu interrogation three years ago, she seemed to have been a catalyst in making his life more difficult, not that he ever did much to avoid those new hardships. The problem with an unrequited crush, one spanning years no less, is that the subject of such feelings develops the gravity of a black hole, a force a love-struck fool is all too willing to be crushed by. Even now, with their meetings being few and far between, the detective's request was impossible to refuse.

The impressive part was that it wasn't even her request. He had been working at the shop, minding his own business, like he had been for the endless weeks since the end of summer. Yosuke had long since returned to their university, Rise was on tour or doing some acting job, he had lost track, Yukiko was working at the inn as if her life depended on it, and Teddie was doing god knows what. The bear had taken to using his endless charm and incredible naivety to decide it would be his job to go around the planet and give them what they really want; himself. He had given some long speech to the team about it being his way to brighten up humanity's 'collective subconscious' and prevent the fog ever forming again, but Kanji had tuned out as soon as he realised Teddie actually believed what he was saying.

_Still, _the tailor thought glumly, _least he's been doing something. _While the boy, (still not a man in his own eyes), enjoyed working at his family's store, the past few weeks of working in a practically empty Inaba had given him a rude awakening. He had gotten used to having friends, always present, always available, always together, and completely forgot the horrible feeling of isolation that had dominated his middle school years. The only problem was that unlike those days, he didn't have the never ending fountain of rage to fuel his daily life. He was stagnating, with the only definite part of his future being working in a shop, surrounded only by fabric and his mother, and eventually, only the cloth would be there to keep him company. It was a depressing prospect, and the idea he would still see his senpai and friends, but on holidays, when their schedules allowed it, only sunk his spirits closer to rock bottom. So when Chie made her offer, he'd practically bit off her hand. Well, after some reservations…

_"Run that by me again."_

_"Ugh," Chie groaned, throwing her hands in the air. "What don't you get, this is simple!" She sunk down onto the younger boy's futon, red faced, letting the back of her head bounce off the mattress._

_Kanji rolled his eyes, pushing his chair away from his desk, deciding the felt puppy wouldn't be going anywhere. Swivelling to face the woman on his bed, he mildly noted how common it was becoming to be interrupted by this slightly stroppy cop. "Sure, it's simple," He grunted, "But it sounds nuts. Where'd you even hear about this?"_

_The martial artist had, rather rudely, already settled herself onto his futon, lying down and staring at the ceiling. She was in her work clothes, but, typically for herself off-shift, they lacked any sense of authority, tie unruly, top of the shirt unbuttoned, and the blazer just not angled right. Her hat had somehow found itself on top of Kanji's bookshelf, the previous excitement for her wonderful proposal too much to contain. "It doesn't even matter alright!" she snapped. Fortunately, he had gotten used to her slowly deteriorating disposition over the last year, and merely raised an eyebrow. "Look, are you in, or not?"_

_Scootching closer to his friend, he looked her dead in the eyes. "If you're asking me to move across the freakin' country as a favour course it damn matters. What's the deal?"_

_Anger was so natural to hear from Kanji, it had the effect of calming Chie down. "Well…" She sighed, resting a tired hand on her forehead. "Y'know how I keep applying to other precincts?"_

_Her friend nodded sagely. All he had been hearing from his martial artist friend was how there was never any real action in Inaba, the murder case none withstanding. "And this means…"_

_"It means nobody's willing to take me on," She replied glumly, "And this last place kept saying I need more experience."_

_Kanji squinted, still failing to see the connection. "So? Stick around here a few years and then you can go, it ain't that-"_

_"But it is." The academy graduate cut in. "C'mon. You're just as tired of this town as I am. This is an opportunity!" The bubbly, enthusiastic Chie that Kanji once knew was rising to the surface, a side he could often bring back as long as he endured a hammy Kung-Fu flick or ritzed out on a steak lunch. "The location's great, and we'd be working for a good company, and the pay really is amazing for people our age…"_

_Kanji just shook his head, sinking her spirits to their now-usual level. "That ain't enough. You know that. Who'd look after Ma? Who'd look after the shop? And your dog won't feed itself." Awkwardly, he rolled his chair closer to his downtrodden senpai and placed a strong hand on her shoulder. "Listen," he started, trying to channel some of Yu's old pep-talk finesse, "I know things are pretty shitty right now. But this is way too much. Besides, I know Yukiko-" He flinched as he said the name, even before feeling the familiar glare Chie threw him whenever he broached the topic. "What I mean is," he clumsily tried again, "I know she'd miss you. You'd miss her, and don't even pretend otherwise."_

_But the martial artist was gone, staring into a corner of the room with her eyes glazed over. "She wouldn't even notice we were gone…" Snapping back into reality, she glanced at Kanji for only a second and bit her lip, knowing she had to play her trump card. "This… Wasn't actually my idea you know…" She started, forcing her voice to be casual in only the loosest sense._

_A lost Kanji tilted his head. "Whaddya mean?"_

_The police officer gulped, then cleared her throat. "It was actually Naoto-kun's…" _

Chie could still remember the way his head pricked up, knowing instantly she had him hook, line, and sinker. _A fishing metaphor, _she noted sadly, the flash of grey in her mind suddenly shifting into a sea of intense red. Breathing softly, she returned to thinking about her poor, easily manipulated partner, doing god knows what in the restroom. She still felt bad about bringing Naoto into it, but she was desperate. She had been desperate for months. Kicking her heels, and _definitely _not having second thoughts, she quietly ended up doing her usual thing; thinking about how horrible her life had become.

The academy had been… Fine. The commute to Okina for classes had been easy, and the training was definitely more interesting than anything in school. The fact was however, nobody was there, and any potential friends didn't make themselves known. She had tried, god she had tried, to bridge the gap in those first few months, but everyone was so much older, trying to switch professions, or younger, with an air that disturbingly reminded her of Adachi, too carefree, and just waiting to abuse their future positions. It didn't help that when one of those younger guys made a slightly sexist joke she used a kick she usually saved for on Yosuke Hanamura, and won herself the grand title of 'the stuck-up bitch'. This didn't even win her any points with the precious few women in the class, who sided with the guys as to not rock the boat, or just stayed quiet, and well clear of the freak.

That would have all been fine if things at home were like they were, but they weren't. Inaba was empty besides from Kanji and the occasional sighting of Teddie. Completely empty. With no other people whatsoever. With that huge bunch of options available, she had taken to bugging the tailor at every opportunity, which he didn't seem to mind, considering he didn't exactly have a lot of choice either. But there were the times he took to hanging out with Naoki, leaving Chie alone. So very alone.

That pretty much summed up her year. Academy, Kanji, alone. Once she graduated the preliminary course (third in her class), she was assigned a placement which, due to convenience, had to be in the Inaba, which meant she had to work with Detective Dojima, which had definitely not healthy for her psyche. If the work had been interesting enough that she didn't have time to let it get to her it would have been great, but it was an Inaba post-Izanami, an Inaba where crime was only ever petty and uninteresting. She spent her days filling out forms and hoping desperately to suddenly become invested in it, rather than her brain be filled with thoughts of the town's most beloved scoundrel.

Naoto, however, did come back. Only sporadically, and for scant hours at best, but she did visit, although Chie clearly saw it was out of a sense of duty as opposed to any enthusiasm. Yosuke and Rise also made their own visits, but she made a point to avoid them. Naoto she didn't blame, those two… She frowned, seethed, and kicked the wall she was leaning against with the heel of her plimsolls. _Best not to think about it, _she reminded herself, pain shooting up her shin. It was easier that way.

Back down memory lane, she recalled how this new opportunity had presented itself, during Naoto's most recent visit. The detective had been wittering on about her favourite topic, her continued investigation of the shadow phenomena, all over a quite frankly disgusting cup of coffee. While Chie made sure to nod and gasp as the appropriate intervals, her heart really wasn't in it. The case was over. End of story, nothing to follow up on.

_"If only I had an agent on the inside,"_ _the detective had bemoaned, "their systems are impossible to crack."_

_The mere mention of espionage roused Chie to begin paying attention. "That would be cool! But, uh, what would you hope to find?"_

_Naoto's eyes twinkled, the woman glad to have had something asked from her by her usually unresponsive friend. "All manner of things. The Kirijo group was at the heart of the Tatsumi Port Island incidents and may even as we speak be running research into shadow activity."_

_"Really?" Chie asked, eyebrows raised in excitement. "What kind of research?"_

_"Where to start? My theory is-"_

The martial artist had dozed off again when her dorky friend pulled out her Kirijo dossier, but the name of the company had stuck in her mind, and an absent minded session of scrolling through web pages had somehow led her to their recruitment page. One listing caught her eye, a year's contract in the CEO's private residence, looking for 'a team of discrete and well synergised individuals for a simple security assignment.' Encouragingly, there was a footnote, 'We accept all applicants.' A quick search of said residence, the remote and beautiful Yakushima Island, sold her wholeheartedly.

So while Naoto hadn't _explicitly _told her to do this, she may as well have. Besides, she threw the Shirogane name on their application for extra credit, so she was basically involved. _Still_, she thought tiredly, _I'll have to set things straight with Kanji-kun someday… _An ear pricked up at the sound of a creaking door. _Speak of the devil. _Chie turned to face her emerging friend, bringing her peppier persona to the surface. Someone had to be positive. "You get lost or something in there?"

Kanji's drooping eyelids told her he didn't have any time for her bullshit. "Just y'know, freaking the fuck out a little." He replied honestly, walking straight past his senpai towards the exit. She fell in line beside him, a little bounce in her step that prompted a sideways glance from the tall boy. "Why're we doin' this again?"

Chie shrugged, trying to overlook the fact he'd been asking the same kind of questions for the entire flight. "Why not? Is there anything else you'd rather be doing?" His grunt in retort was a string of intelligible mutterings. Tuning this out, Chie found herself and her partner on the pavement outside the front of the airport. "Taxi'll be here any minute." She turned to her friend, and only now noticed the bags under his eyes. "You could've grabbed some sleep on the plane y'know…"

The tailor's nod was surprisingly firm. "Ain't ever been on one of those things before. I was scared shitless the whole time."

His slowly developed candidness was always something Chie always found surprising. _He spent so much time being something he wasn't, _she reminded herself, _he must really wanna put that behind him… _A pang of guilt shot through her body as she realised again what he was wearing. _And I made him dress up in those stupid clothes. _Averting her gaze, she looked down to herself. Honestly, out of uniform, she looked no different to when she was in high school, the deep green on her torso both a happy comfort, and a sad reminder of times gone by.

Her reverie was broken by the sound of wheels on tarmac. The headlights were blinding, even from a distance, and it took a few moment for Chie's eyes to adjust, only to find Kanji was already sitting inside, settling into a corner of the backseat. She joined him, taking her place on the other side, and after a quick discussion with the driver, they set off. The plan was to get to the coast, grab a boat, head to the island, nail the interview, and-

_The interview. _The martial artist went limp and sank into the cheap seat. "Kanji-kun?"

"Mmmrh?" His eyes were closed, and he kept fidgeting, trying to find the most comfortable position.

"Well…" she sighed. "Remember when I said this was a sure thing? I lied. We'll have to go through an interview and beat out any other applicants and…" She leant forwards and cradled her face in her hands. "Oh god, what if we don't get it? I'd have to call my mom, and I've been talking about this for so long and she didn't even want me to go and-"

"Shhhh..." Chie had been expecting any interruption be an explosion of rage from her friend but luckily, in this state the boy was entirely docile. "We'll get the gig… Has to be us, right?"

"What makes you so sure?

"We're a… Good team…" His speech was slow and laboured, with a gentle air Chie couldn't quite put her finger on. "'Sides… If they don't like us they can get bent."

A small smile formed on Chie's lips, who had always appreciated the younger boy's crudeness, which widened when followed by comically loud snoring. Looking out of the window, it was so dark only the road was visible, but she was content to watch the silhouettes beyond its edge. She curled her fingers into a fist and nodded. _He's right. We are gonna get this job, and then I'm gonna move into the city and be the greatest cop that's ever lived! _She punched the air, but her enthusiasm faded, and in the grey hair of the taxi driver, she saw the boy that had, while having once saved it countlessly, had utterly ruined her life. _This has to work. I can't go through last year again, I… _She closed her eyes, and was quiet for a long time.

* * *

><p><strong><em>AN-<em> **Okay, so I'm writing a new story! This one is still gonna have pairings because I'm a self indulgent prat like that, but I'm trying to go for more actual action than romance stuff this time round, switch it up y'know?

Here's the pitch- Chie and Kanji centric, three years after catching Adachi, P3/P4 crossover, and arena didn't happen, though I will be taking some elements of it! That's all I'm gonna say, maybe because that's all I have worked out, maybe because I'm hoping I have it in me to surprise at least a couple of people! If you feel confused by the prologue, don't worry, I'll be filling in gaps as I go along. If I'm doing my job.

I want to have this being updated weekly, a regular schedule and all that, which I can stick to for now considering I'm a scant few chapters ahead, but I may do larger chapter dumps if I feel I can get away with it.

So yeah. Hopefully you enjoy it! As always, I'm doing this in part to become a better writer, so criticism is always welcome, along with praise, if you feel you have the time to articulate it. See you next week! - **_WhateverNever_**


	2. The Interview

The island had taken their breath away. Tropical trees, white beaches, they had never seen anywhere so… Idyllic. Sure, Inaba had its charms, but this was pretty much anyone's idea of a resort heaven. Previously, they thought of upper-class excess in terms of Yosuke, someone who bought something new every week and lived in the wealthier side of town. How wrong they were.

Kanji, still staring at the sparkling water, was practically shoved off the small ferry by Chie. "C'mon, dude," she nagged, straining to push the heavy youth onto the jetty, "we've got an appointment to keep!"

Hoisting his bag over his shoulder, and grumbling some complaints for good measure, he joined his friend striding down the wooden planks, still transfixed by the clear water underneath their feet. "So this is what a decent beach looks like, yeah?"

"I guess," Chie shrugged, who was more worried about whatever trial lay ahead of them, "I've only travelled as much as you have, you know." For the thousandth time, she pulled the printed email out of her pocket, and once again confirmed that the applicants were supposed to meet at the bar on the beachfront. Grabbing the arm of a trailing Kanji, who was scouring the sea for every little detail so thoroughly it looked like he was about to fall in, she directed them to the small shack, taking a seat in one of the deckchairs set outside. Leaning back, she rested her hands on the back of her head and basked in the late morning sunshine. "I could get used to this," she murmured, eyelids already drooping.

"It ain't bad," he friend agreed, relenting to the heat and taking off his jacket. Still feeling warm, he looked to the bar to find something to drink, and was discouraged to find the choices were either alcoholic, or just the worst flavours of Dr. Salt. He looked around, and it finally clicked that this place wasn't empty, and that everybody else would be after the same job opening. There were all sorts- he even saw some foreigners in the mix- but him and Chie were by far the youngest. He began to feel incredibly out of his depth. "Shit, have you seen everyone else 'round here?" His friend opened an eye slowly, slightly annoyed to have her doze cut short before it had even begun. "Jesus they're all huge and- Holy fuck!" His voice dropped to a whisper. "That guy has a fuckin' Yakuza tat I swear." He threw his friend a desperate expression. "We're out of our league here man."

Chie waved off his concerns with an erratic hand motion. "You think too much. I thought I brought along Kanji Tatsumi," she said his name with power, "you know, the guy that took on a whole biker gang and won?"

"Well yeah, but no, wait… That ain't the point, dammit!" He slammed a palm down onto the table between them and pointed at the competition dotted around. "Those guys were low-life punks. These are professionals. Like, real fuckin' professionals. We ain't got a chance."

Chie looked at him as if he was insane, which considering how much sense he was making, made him wonder if she was the crazy one. "So? We will be once we get this job?"

Kanji tilted his head in disbelief. "But that's it, we ain't getting' this job are we?"

"Kanji," Chie sighed, with her eyes almost bored, "Answer me this. Have any of these bozo's gone inside a TV?"

It was a sort of left field question. "Well no, but-"

The martial artist rolled her eyes. "Have any of these guys kicked a shadow's butt?"

"No, but ya see-"

She settled back into the reclined seat as she gave her killer blow. "Have any of these guys saved the world?"

Kanji was dumbfounded. "Well 'course not, but-"

"Saved the world." She closed her eyelids with a smug expression.

"But they have-"

"Saved the world."

"Chie, you know that-"

"Saved the wooooooorld." She shook her head, crunched herself forward and laid a firm hand on her friend's shoulder. "Just quit your worrying dude, we got this!" She thumped her chest, mirroring Kanji's own gesture of confidence. "I promise."

He knew her words were complete bullshit in more than a few ways, but he couldn't help but smile. It died however, cut off by the arrival of a suit with a clipboard, who going between the various teams gathered by the beach. The pair eyed him as he made his way through the pack, confirming details and making sure their paperwork was in order. A rather unassuming figure, he wore a pair of glasses, and seemed perennially impatient, as if things just weren't moving along efficiently enough. He stopped just short of the two of them, however, looking between his notes and themselves, face growing ever so slightly incredulous. With a mostly inaudible sigh, he made his step forward. "You must be Satonaka-san and Tatsumi-san, correct?"

"Damn straight." Kanji nodded, earning a cuff round the ear from Chie. "Hey!" He yelped, snapping his head to her, "What was that for?"

"We're in the process now," she hissed, "We gotta be serious." Her features morphed into a wide smile, turning attention right back to the man standing over them. "Yeah, that's us, hi!"

He smirked, which they weren't sure was a good sign, but it was overlooked as they underwent the tedious process of confirming their identities. "Yes, that about covers it…" he droned, ticking some boxes with his Kirijo-emblazoned pen. "Cars will be arriving shortly. Please take your seats promptly, and you will be brought to the assessment."

As he stepped to walk away, Chie held out her hand. "Wait!" He stopped, and turned his head back. "Do you have any advice? On the interview I mean."

The man smiled. All the other applicants hadn't bothered to ask such a question, those in private security usually having a well-developed sense of their own confidence. He wasn't sure if they were up to much, but they were young. He might as well give them hope. "The Kirijo group is a… Different company to most. Different to ourselves, in fact, if you only delve through even our most recent history." He directed a piercing glance between the two of them. "We value spirit as much as anything else. If you can show you have that, then I'm sure you will perform adequately." He smiled, turning on his heels. "Good luck."

They watched as he walked away, Chie nodding in approval. "That guy was nice…" She scratched her chin. "Spirit huh? What should we do…"

"Kick ass." Kanji said immediately. "S'what we do." Holding up a palm, she slapped an emphatic high-five, and they stood up, ready to face whatever challenge would be placed in front of them.

The car ride wasn't pleasant, the pair having to squeeze between a woman with legs the size of tree trunks, and a man with biceps the size of bowling balls. Chie figured they must make a pretty good team. The professionals kept glancing curiously at the young guns between them, and made no effort to hide the smirk they shared afterwards. Kanji just clenched his fist, trying to ignore their goading, difficult to do when he had a sneaking suspicion they were right to mock.

The tinted windows of the vehicle didn't do the mansion any favours. It was only when they got out of the car, gulping in blissful lungfuls of clean air, that they were really impressed. Its walls were white, and completely spotless, the red roofing tiles gleaming, and perfectly symmetrical. As they followed the other applicants, while they couldn't see it due to the dense vegetation of the tropical island, they could just feel how close they were to the ocean. "This must have cost a bomb…" Kanji whispered. "How big are this company again?"

"That's…" Chie started, raising a finger and cringing slightly, "Something I should have checked."

The group, twenty or so strong by Chie's quick headcount, had gathered by a luxurious fountain at front of the estate. Leaning on its marble ledge, the martial artist tried to work out what their next move should be. The man with the clipboard appeared again, and cleared his throat. "Greetings, applicants. There will be a variety of tests and assessments throughout today, and a combination of the results of those, along with our CEO's personal preference, will decide."

This sparked an excited muttering in the crowd.

"Mitsuru Kirijo, here?" A voice breathed.

"I hear she's only 23, and running the entire group herself!" Another whispered in awe.

A romantic voice cut through the crowd. "I've heard her beauty has sparked over a dozen takeovers..."

Once again, Chie cursed herself for her lack of research, and felt invariably out of her depth. Kanji noticed her downtrodden posture, and clicked his fingers right in front of her eyes. His hand morphed into a thumbs up as she looked to him, dazed. "Be confident, alright? In it to win it, yeah?"

Brow furrowing, she nodded, with real determination as the chatter died down, and the suit resumed his speech. "Our first test is a simple combat exercise. I will call two names, and they will spar for two minutes." A few whoops were raised by the crowd, along with the smacking of fists into palms. "However, if any of you feel that the use of underhanded tactics will ensure victory, I would like to remind you that the Kirijo group is a very honourable organisation, an part of our culture we take _very_ seriously." He looked down to his sheet. "Now, Miki Nazahura and Kanji Tatsumi, please step forwards."

Kanji and Chie looked at each other, not expecting to begin so quickly. The boy remained rooted on the spot, forcing Chie to literally shove him out of the crowd, with no time for any words of encouragement. Stumbling over to the suit, he sized up his opponent, standing ready on the dusty floor. He was relieved to find he still had a height advantage, but not nearly as much as he was used to, and the guy didn't have a ton of muscle; he had a real chance. His main worry was the his stance; wide and with a low centre of balance, he had obviously had training, whereas Kanji himself hadn't been in a street fight for years, and his supernatural adventures hadn't ever developed his skills in bareknuckle boxing.

"Two minutes." The suit stated, signalling the end of Kanji's contemplative preparation. "Begin."

The crowd began to cheer, jeer, and unsettle from the moment they were off, the shorter man wasting no time in closing the distance and throwing a quick jab at the tailor's solar plexus. Doubling over in pain, he didn't even have time to cry out before a vicious kick sent him to the floor. Vision blurry, and a dribble of red pooling out into the gravel in front of him, Kanji could only think to himself _'I'm done'. _And then he heard a menacing scream from the crowd, crying "Get the hell back up Moronji!"

He'd always _hated_ that name.

Getting some purchase with his palms, he got to his knees, seeing his opponent had taken to riling up their audience, figuring the fight was won, pointing and laughing at the boy on the ground. Angry now, seeing a shade of red that he hadn't for a long time, he exploded out of his crouch, charging to the asshole and grabbing his waist, before lifting up his whole body and slamming him straight onto the ground.

A silence meant everyone heard the bone crunching impact clearly, which was subsequently rewarded with approving claps and cheers. Kanji took a couple steps back, and snarled at his writhing opponent, daring him to get up. He took the challenge, finding his feet, and looking a lot less composed than before, his previous battle-stance forgotten. The two men strode towards each other, raising their fists, and immediately started exchanging blows in the centre. Kanji worked entirely on instinct, dodging some punches, and deflecting others, but mostly just absorbing the quicker strikes of his adversary, all the while knocking him back with his slower, harder hitting ones. The man was being worn down, and tried a sweep kick, which Kanji roughly batted away with his foot. Seeing his opportunity, he bent down and grabbed the man's thighs, straining his legs until he was standing straight, grunting from the pain the guy was showering all over his back. In a quick movement, he threw his cargo over his back, not even looking as he crashed to the ground, leaving a streaky red track where he had scraped through the landing.

"Time." The suit announced, looking at his watch. "Our next opponents are…"

Not at all appreciating the fact he had pretty much won, Kanji stumbled back to the fountain, being clapped on the back by his fellow applicants, with a few 'holy shits' and a 'how old even are you?' thrown in for good measure. Finding Chie, he shot her a dopey smile before dunking his head into the cool water of the fountain. Staying for a while in refreshing liquid, he let himself sink to the floor, back the marble and looking up at Chie. "How'd I do?"

His friend ummm'd and ahhh'd playfully. "Not your best, very scruffy, in fact I'd say- Ah who am I kidding," she exclaimed, grabbing his hand and pulling him to his feet, "you threw that guy like, ten feet, it was awesome!" They both were grinning wildly, a moment perhaps ruined by the cheering of the bloodthirsty crowd, the second bout already underway. While Chie would have loved to watch, she noticed the cut on his temple was still slowly oozing blood. "C'mon, we need to get you patched up."

He shook his head, looking over to the new fight excitedly. "Nah, don't worry about it, I feel fine! Let's just watch these guys go at it."

Chie grabbed his wrist firmly. "It's a head injury dude, we have to check you aren't concussed or something."

Kanji still wasn't convinced. "The other guy isn't getting' a doctor. What if it's part of the test, y'know, like, bearing through it?"

"Kanji, there's being macho, and there's being dumb. Don't be dumb." He relinquished control to her, where she dragged the pair of them too the suit to ask for a first aid kit.

"Hmm," he pondered, passively watching the kickboxing match between the current two contenders, "The maids are all versed in emergency aid, find one of them inside." She nodded, but before they could leave, he looked down to his notes. "I'll have to put you in last Miss Satonaka; don't be late."

Nodding, the pair of them strode towards the huge doors of the mansion, the sounds of the brawl fading with each passing step.

* * *

><p><strong>AN- <strong>Three chapter dump time! So keep on reading, suspense be damned! - _WN_


	3. A New Friend

The inside of the residence was even grander its outside, every surface polished and cleaned, with greenery tastefully and symmetrically dotted around the place, not to mention the no-doubt priceless art that littered the walls. "Wow," Chie whispered, "We'd be working here?"

The tailor was more occupied with the intricately patterned rug on the floor. "Shit," he resolved, "we have to get this job now."

Chie smiled reassuringly. "You certainly did your half. You looked great out there!" The smile was returned, along with the reminder her friend was still bleeding, and she realised she didn't quite know where to find one of the maids. "Uh, hello?" She called. "A little help?"

"Ahm comin', ahm comin'." As if by magic, a shock of strange blue-grey (Chie flinched) hair came tumbling out of a door, surprising Chie and Kanji the most by wearing an actual maid outfit, frilly white apron an all. The stranger sped over to them, stopping in her tracks when she looked up and actually saw the half-bloodied pair. "Shucks. New people." Moving more slowly, and almost elegantly, almost, she dipped into a deep curtsey, and greeted the pair. "Hello. I am Labrys, one of Mitsuru-san's many maids. How may I assist you?"

Slightly dumbfounded by the sudden disappearance of the girl's strange accent, Chie meekly gestured at her friend's forehead, all the while trying to ignore the grey her hair kept seeming to shift to. "Just look at him."

The maid retained her newly stoic expression. "Hmm. I can see the problem. Come with me." They followed her, not entirely certain of what just happened, pacing through lavish corridor after lavish corridor. "So," the maid started, a strange pitch to her voice, "If I may humbly ask, what da hell- I mean, whatever," she tried again, visibly chiding herself, "could have caused such an injury?"

Again, the pair were confused by the sudden tonal shift. "Uhh, you don't have to talk like that if you want." Kanji said uncertainly. "We won't tell on you or nuthin'."

"Really?" The girl asked, a cheerfulness finally edging into her voice. "Thank god, ya see, I gotta be all like that in case someone important comes along, but it's really hard, and they all end up bein' so borin'…"

"Are you saying we're not important?" Chie joked, feeling much more at ease now the girl was losing her roboticisms.

"Well, you don't look it, no offense," she replied, ushering them through a door, "But you definitely aren't boring. You get in a scrap or something?"

Chie and Kanji were surprised to find themselves in what looked like a proper hospital room, complete with sterile walls, beds, and curtains, the maid scouring through a cupboard for the right supplies. It made Kanji a little uncomfortable, but Chie chattered on regardless. "Yeah, we're applying for the security job and they're making us fight to show how good they are."

The blue-haired girl snapped to face them. "Really? That sounds so cool! But kinda horrible…" She resumed her rummaging. "Didn't even know we had an openin'," she sighed, "Nobody tells me nuthin'. But why that job? Hell, you look like you're only around my age... Where are you even from?" She laid her equipment on a bed and held up a hand. "Wait, let's do a proper introduction, not that crap like before." She smiled and waved happily. "Hiya, I'm Labrys, and I work here. What about you?"

Chie returned her gestures. "Hi, I'm Chie Satonaka, and this is Kanji Tatsumi. We're from Inaba, and we want to work here!"

Labrys gestured to Kanji getting the boy to sit on the bed. She tilted her head and inspected the wound. "It ain't that deep, you'll be fine. Lemme check your eyes…" Grabbing his face rather forcefully and peering deep into his pupils, she moved away satisfied. "Ya all good. Just gonna stitch it up, alright?" He nodded, and she got to work. "Inaba, you said? Never heard of it."

"Really?" At the academy, admittedly not that far afield, everyone pestered her about the murder case. "The murders must've get much coverage up here."

"Murder?"

"Ow!" Kanji jolted, not ready for the suture piercing his skin.

"Aw, hush you." The medic babied harshly, looking back to Chie. "A murder happened where you came from?"

"Murders," the martial artist corrected, "But yeah, we're a really small town so it kinda shocked us. Took a whole year for us- uh, I mean," she backtracked hastily, "the cops to catch the killer."

Kanji tried to help cover his friend, laughing nervously. "Yeah, she says 'us' all the time 'cus she's a cop now. It's kinda lame."

Chie raised a thumbs up, approving of her friend's quick thinking, and elegantly segued into a change of topic. "Ha, yeah, I'm a cop. At least, until I get this job I am."

"That's pretty cool," Labrys chattered, "I know a cop. Well, sometimes he is, sometimes he ain't…" She trailed off, and directed her next question at her patient. "What are you then?"

"Oh, I help with my Ma's textile shop." he said candidly, having long gotten past the stage of having to be coy about his profession. "I'll prolly run the place someday."

Labrys did looked surprised to hear about the bloodied boy's real profession, but to her credit, didn't point that out. She moved away, his wound cleaned and closed. "That's cool. So then, if you were both set up at home, why do you wanna work here?"

Kanji still wasn't entirely sure what his answer to that question was. Because he didn't want to be in Inaba his entire life? Because Naoto, (_'Damn, _he thought, _gone so long without thinkin' bout her as well'_) wanted some information? Because Chie needed a friend with her? "Uhh," he droned automatically.

"It's a long story," Chie stepped in, not even remotely willing to delve into how much she needed to leave town. "What about you, do you live on this island?"

"Well, yeah, I guess but…" She laughed, embarrassed. "This is gonna sound totally weird to a couple strangers, but it's totally true, ya hear?" They both nodded, privately knowing whatever weird truth she was about to tell them, they had experienced weirder. "Okay, well, the doctors tell me I have amnesia. I just woke up in a hospital on the mainland an' couldn't remember anything from before, 'cept my name. 'Course, still got the accent, but that never helped me narrow things down…" It didn't help Kanji or Chie either. Her voice was strange, cheerfully urban, and like nothing they had ever heard before. "Anyway," she carried on, "apparently Mitsuru takes pity on me and gives me this job, and the place to stay. Apparently my parents worked for her company or something?" She shrugged. "That's my story. It's kinda sad, I've only got a couple years' worth of my life to chat about, and it's all me workin' here."

The room went uneasily quiet, the pair finding it hard to form a response suitable for such a tragic tale. "That's cool," Kanji tried, his voice perhaps a tad too light hearted, "I can't barely remember what I ate for breakfast." A pin dropped, and his face grew sullen. "Shit. I never had any breakfast…"

Their new friend found his serious demeanour too funny, which made it easy for Chie to join in the laughter. Kanji ignored the two of them, wistfully thinking of all the snacks he should have brought, the animal crackers he could have been eating. His head slumped, as the mirth from the girls devolved into simple giggles. "Oh boy," Chie tittered, wiping a tear from her eye, conveniently ignoring her own hunger. "That was too good." She looked at Labrys, and began to think of her benefactor. "Say, Labrys?"

The still smiling girl looked up to her. "Yeah?"

"How is Mitsuru? As a boss I mean, considering she'll be ours too soon." She added, holding up crossed fingers.

She thought for a few moments. "Good I guess. Polite. A little distant, always busy, but prolly comes with the whole 'CEO of a multinational corporation' thing. She's away from here a lot, but to be honest, I'm never sure what she's up to."

"Alright," Chie nodded, "What about the other people working here?"

"Fuuka's nice." She said immediately. "Hang out with her a lot, but again, she's always working. She's a researcher or something, got a whole lab underneath here," she added, tapping the ground with her foot. "She's one of Mitsuru-san's old school friends, a lot of them come visit. Akihiko especially comes by every so often, he's the cop I talked about. He's smart, but very brawny, if you catch my drift?" Chie looked over to Kanji, still dejected over his lack of food, and decided she didn't. "The other grunt workers are okay I guess. Gardeners are pretty much all old sticks, drivers are mostly silent, and the other maids are all prissy as hell. To be honest, leaves me kinda lonely half the time…" She looked between the pair optimistically. "But you guys are really cool, you have to get this job! We can like, hang out all the time, and get paid for it!"

While Chie liked the obviously sheltered girl, she couldn't help but feel she was pinning a lot of hopes on the two of them. "That sounds great Labrys, but the competition's pretty fierce…"

"Competition, scheompetition, I'll just put a good word in with the boss. In fact…" She wondered, a good idea spreading across her face, "Follow me!"

With little other option, seeing as they'd be lost if they were on their own in the maze of the mansion, they joined her, speeding along, with the maid unable to contain her excitement over whatever scheme she had just concocted. Finding themselves in front of a door, Labrys pushed her way through, without even bothering to knock.

The office was big, spacious, and almost too classy. The décor was wooden, business like, with a large painting on the wall of a one eyed man dominating the room. A set of sofas and a coffee table were ready for informal meetings with familiar clients, whereas the desk, with two hard seats in front of it, was where the real power lay, and at this moment, was sitting in her chair. Mitsuru Kirijo, with her presence almost regal, was reading documents, in a red blouse that somehow was the perfect contrast for her hair, and as far as Kanji could tell, was made from the finest silk he had ever seen. The CEO never even looked up from the paper in front of her. "What did we say about knocking, Labrys?"

The maid pouted. "Sorry, I just got excited is all. I want you to meet some people."

Mitsuru finally looked up, seeming utterly unsurprised to have two unknown teenagers inside one of the most powerful offices in the world. "Hmm. And who are they?"

Her voice was so commanding, it had the opposite effect, leaving Chie and Kanji a too intimidated to reply. Labrys however, felt no such fear. "They're Chie-chan and Kanji-kun. They're going for the security job-post-opening; whatever it is."

Mitsuru studied them for a few seconds. "I see. And why did you feel the need to bring them forward?"

"Because I think they should get the job!" Labrys announced, making the pair of them feel even more uncomfortable. "I really like them, and apparently Kanji here's already laid out one guy today." She beamed at Mitsuru, apparently proud of her argument. "So, whaddya say?"

The redhead woman smiled, but it was one of pity, lacking real warmth. "Labrys, they will be considered like all the other applicants, based on their aptitude during the selection process. Your input is… Welcomed, but of little consequence." The three in front of her all shrunk at little at that harsh assessment, Kanji and Chie feeling their new friend's intervention was not doing them any favours. "Now, Labrys, I'm assuming your laundry duties are all taken care of?" She asked, with a smug air that was well practiced.

The maid almost jumped at that reminder of her duties. "Crap!" She turned to her new friends. "I gotta run now or the head maid is gonna kill me. I swear that's literal, I haven't seen the new girl for weeks!" She rushed to the door, halfway through when she turned back, with a wistful gaze. "I'll um," she said quietly, "See you guys later, alright?"

The pair nodded, Kanji holding up his hand in farewell. "See ya soon, ya hear?"

Smiling, she sped off down the corridor, leaving the two hopefuls in front of their prospective boss, the most intimidating woman they had ever met, mortal at least. "I'm sorry about her," Mitsuru started, before they could even think about leaving, "She can be very energetic. That's not the impression of the company I want to leave on a professionals like yourselves." She saw the casual clothes they were wearing, and internally revised that judgement. "At any rate, you should return to my assistant. He's-"

She stopped, noticing something, and focussed hard between the two newcomers, who began squirming in their shoes. Kanji took the easy option and stared at the desk, noticing for the first time the strange miniatures that sat on the desk, a thin knight with a rapier, a bandaged girl with a ball for legs, an emperor with the world in his hands, among others. He had never seen anything like them, but they were all very familiar somehow. Before he could think this through some more, a voice brought him back to reality.

"Very interesting…" The CEO murmured. She reverted to her previous demeanour, but with a small, sly smile. "Take a left, then a right, and you should find yourselves at the entrance of this mansion. I'm sure that the interview has been carrying on without you," she added pointedly, "and I imagine you wouldn't want to be missed."

"Crap!" Suddenly remembering she still had to fight, Chie jolted upright and headed for the door, dragging Kanji with her. "Uh, thank you, Kirijo-san!" She spluttered, as respectfully as she could

Mitsuru silently wished them good luck as they left. She wasn't sure how Labrys had done it, but she had managed to highlight the two most interesting applicants of the batch. She knew would have to keep an eye on those two. Bored of reading, she stood up and smoothed her skirt. It was time to take a closer look at her new security team.

* * *

><p><strong>AN- <strong>Yup, this fic has added Labrys! To reiterate- Arena never happened here, but who knows what I can throw in! - _WN_


	4. A Final Boss

The two applicants sped down the hallways, not sure how much time they had to get to her bout. "Man," Kanji exhaled, still thinking of his, he hoped, soon to boss. "She's intense."

"Yeah," Chie agreed, pushing through the door back to the courtyard, "Guess that's why she runs the place."

Luckily for them, the other candidates were still gathered together by the fountain. Unfortunately, even from a distance, they could see the suit was tapping his foot _very_ impatiently, and even worse for Chie, the absolutely gigantic brute next to him looked like her opponent. Feeling the judgement of the other applicants as they made their way to the crowd, Kanji could only whisper "This totally ain't fair."

Of course, Chie only took this as a challenge. "Alright, I bet you I'll take this guy down, without ending up on the floor like you did." Nodding to her friend, who looked both incredulous and scared on her behalf, she took her place opposite her opponent.

"Right on time," the suit droned sarcastically, earning a good response from the crowd. The green clad girl used the opportunity to eye up her opponent, beginning to hop on the balls of her feet exactly as she always trained. The tallest of all the applicants, and perhaps the thickest, she would never beat him in a contest of raw strength. This had to be all about technique. "Chie Satonaka and Tono Miziguwa. Begin."

Learning first hand from Kanji's experience that it wasn't a good idea to give your opponent the first move, she immediately took a run up to her opponent, exploding into a flying kick. Considering the height of her adversary however, she essentially just kicked off the solid wall of mass that was his chest. Landing with a bend in her knees, she looked up to see the round-faced monster stretching a wicked smile across his face. Striding slowly towards her, she decided to change tack, rolling backwards to restore some distance between them, and beginning to strafe around in a circle, looking for an opening.

The giant kept to his spot, happy to wait for his opponent to make her move. She kept her eyes up and down, looking up and down for an opening, which just wouldn't seem to present itself. She tried another assault, this time on her favourite target, running into a slide down between his legs and trying to aim an upwards kick, but again, her height proved an issue, with little connection, and little damage. Coming out the other side, she sprang back on her feet, cursing her slight stature not for the first time in her life, and resumed her strafing, determined to find a way to bring the guy down.

Kanji meanwhile watched the whole scene like a worried mother, wringing his hands and desperately looking at his watch. Sure, he'd seen Chie go through fights which were literally life and death, but everything takes a new light in the real world, rather than the distortion of the TV. He sidled over to the suit, and tried to make a case. "It's been two minutes, right?"

The man sighed, adjusting his glasses. "Tatsumi-san, these two have not shown me any skills or initiative. The fight will continue until I see one or the other."

Shaking his head and muttering a curse, Kanji looked onto the fight, seeing his friend in the same position as before, smart enough to know getting close would leave her the loser, while her opponent was frankly too lazy to go in for the kill. But then, Chie actually noticed her partner in the crowd, and was hit with a wave of inspiration. Moving over to him, eyes trained on the giant, she spoke low. "Stick your knee out, and get ready to lift me."

He looked down at her, completely unaware as to the mechanics of her plan. "What?"

"Just do it," she hissed. Then she raised her voice to the brute. "Hey, you! I don't get why you're so slow, since your mom was one fast bitch!" The giant wasn't so easily rattled however, and stayed in his position. She changed tack. "I guess you got something from her though, am I right, fatso?" He only snorted, cracking his knuckles. In fact, the only one whose heckles were getting raised her Chie herself. "Goddamnit," she shouted, "you're just standing there, don't you even care!?" This got the crowd on her side, who were also extremely tired of their stalemate; they wanted blood. The jeers from a group of mouths far dirtier and experienced from Chie's had the desired effect, her opponent finally looking unsure of himself. Even his own crew was begging him to get on with it. Now she went for the killer blow. "What are you?" She smiled teasingly, "Chicken?"

The man snapped, roaring as he began his charge, exactly what Chie was hoping for. She was waiting for the last possible second; the timing had to be perfect. "Now!" she cried, getting her footing on her friend's knee, and extending, barely registering Kanji's strong hands giving her a much needed few extra inches of height. All the while, her other leg was twisting, spinning into what might have been the hardest kick of its life.

And it worked. Connecting with a solid thud, foot for a second fitting around his head like a glove, the man went rigid, stunned, before crumpling straight down to the floor. Landing with the grace of a cat, Chie stood over her opponent, still combat ready, in disbelief that she managed to bring such a huge man to the deck. This time the cheering was deafening, the crowd rushing over to congratulate the petite girl, who had crushed her goliath without the need of a stone.

"Interesting," their escort noted passively, waiting for the noise to die down. Making some dramatic marks on his clipboard, he subsequently lowered it down, and addressed the applicants. "The next stage will be inside. Follow me." He walked away, leaving some confused as to what would be done about the unconscious loser. "I wouldn't worry," he remarked, not looking back, "He's clearly not what we're looking for."

Watching on a security screen deep in the core of the mansion, Mitsuru couldn't help but be impressed. To fell such an opponent in a single blow was impressive, and the teamwork they had demonstrated brought out a feeling that could only be described as nostalgic. She was convinced- they had the potential. _But what to do with it… _she pondered. She needed a consultation.

Pressing a button on her console, a blue-haired scientist appeared on one of the many screens, working diligently at her desk, before noticing her boss's face on her own monitor. "Mitsuru-senpai?"

"Yamagishi," her employer sighed, "What have I told you about using such an outdated title?"

_The same I did about you calling me 'Yamagishi', _Fuuka protested silently. "Sorry, Mitsuru-san. What do you need?"

"Another perspective." She said mysteriously. Her friend's immediate opinion was usually more valuable than the ones she produced after a few minutes of self-doubt. "Come to the security room, I'll explain there."

Perplexed to her orders, Fuuka nonetheless nodded. "Alright. I'll see you soon senpai- I mean, boss?" She hastily disconnected the call, sticking out her tongue.

Meanwhile, Kanji and Chie trotted along with the rest of the pack, at first jubilant of their success, but hunching down when they realised the atmosphere had changed. They weren't sure what it was; jealousy perhaps, or even fear, but their peers had now realised how well their younger counterparts were performing. They had been immersed in the fighting frenzy, their journey to the next stage reminded them that above all, this was a competition, and cheering on your opposition was perhaps not the best practice. This left the young pair feeling uneasy as they arrived in a more typical lobby, with a generous amount of comfortable seating on top of the modern white tiling.

The suit tapped his clipboard loudly, drawing everyone's attention. He cleared his throat. "For this next exercise, I will be talking to each of you individually, to assess your psycho- Hmm?" With his composure slipping for the first time they had seen, he placed a finger to his earpiece. "Excuse me," he apologised in an offhand manner, going to the other side of the room, but making no effort to lower his voice. "Yes? Kirijo-sama? I was just about to… Really? There are so many variables we haven't explored. If you just…" He went quiet for a few moments, perturbing all of the applicants, straining their ears, wondering if the situation was changing. "I cannot sanction this," he went on, "This is a poor- Yes, Kirijo-sama."

He promptly turned on his heels, his expression stoic, argument apparently settled. He scanned across the candidates almost casually, his eyes resting on the two youngest. "We have made our decision. Tatsumi-san and Satonaka-san can remain. Everybody else is dismissed."

The penny dropped with a moon's gravity, each of the other hopefuls taking their turns to glare at the young guns, who were completely stunned. Some thought about complaining, particularly the man Kanji had slammed to the ground, but something about his serious stature him gave them a seconds pause, which subsequently made them consider how the victors would react to their protests, and considering their earlier displays, wasn't a pleasing prospect. Slowly, they took to leaving, most respectful, but some choosing to mutter "Kirijo bitch" and "Pervert wants fuckin' kids for the eye candy" along with other such obscenities. Soon, all was left was Kanji, Chie, and the suit.

"Wow," Kanji whispered, still in shock. "They must have really screwed up the fightin' part…"

"On the contrary, Tatsumi-san," the suit disagreed tiredly, removing his glasses for the first time, "they all exhibited a much wider and more practical set of techniques that suited this position far more than anything either of you exhibited." He glanced at the pair disapprovingly. "While I am not entirely certain of our executives' motives, her word is the law of this place." Putting emphasis on the 'our', he bowed to them. "It is no matter. We are now colleagues and I shall respect that fact. My name is Tensei Takenowa. I manage this estate, and such am your immediate superior. Tomorrow, you will be working here. Later we can iron out the terms of your contracts, but first I will send for a maid to see you to your quarters." It was a lot of information to take in such a short space of time, and he had already made it to the door before they could begin to ask any questions. "One more thing." He added carefully. "Understand whatever Mitsuru-sama sees in you, I do not. I acknowledge there is potential however…" He pierced their eyes deeply with his own. "My respect must be earned. I hope you do not disappoint me."

Only just managing to bow before he disappeared from their sight, the victorious pair turned one another, smiles slowly growing across their faces, realising what they had accomplished. "We got the job?" Chie asked, her disbelief still going strong.

Kanji looked around, feeling like he had to check. "No-one else here, so it looks like it, don't it?" They finally celebrated, breaking into whoops, cheers, and a firm embrace, leaping around in a circle. All the while, Mitsuru watched on from her security room, somewhat surprised a pair who could so effectively break down an entirely intimidating opponent were also capable of such a childish display.

"Who are they?" A quiet voice asked. Fuuka had such a small presence it was sometimes hard to notice when she entered a room. Moving closer to the screen, a curious expression expanded onto her features. "And why are they… dancing?"

Her boss chuckled. "They are, as of now, our new security team. This is what I suppose you could call a victory dance."

"I… See…" She peered closer at the couple, but quickly back to her friend. "So, what did you need my opinion on?"

"Come now, Fuuka," Mitsuru chided lightly, "I know you're working your mind well in the lab, but not at the expense of your other skills, I hope?"

_Other skills? _She thought, slightly ticked by her friend's cryptic manner, but at the same time more than willing to play her game. "Hmm…" It took a moment of self-reflection for her to hit something deep inside that was very familiar, and once she hit that part of herself, she could feel her world expand, an extra sensation pulsing through the floors and walls of the building until- "Oh!" She gasped.

"_Tres bien_." Mitsuru remarked, nodding once in approval. "Yes, they are persona-users. An unexpected bonus from security opening, that's for sure."

The blue haired girl's eyes widened. "But… Wait… How?"

"I'm not sure," Mitsuru admitted, "They came into my office with Labrys. At first, I thought the strange aura was the usual that emanates from her, but when she left the atmosphere remained unchanged…"

_Labrys… _Fuuka how to wonder how her cheerful little friend was involved, but the arrival of actual human persona-users was a far more interesting conundrum. "What else do you know?"

"At present, little. I can tell they know how to use their power; their moves are far too improvised, like they've spent their time fighting opponents larger and more varied than a human can be."

"Are you saying they've already fought shadows?" Fuuka scratched her head, not at all ready for this development. "Surely we would have already found them if they had a connection with the dark hour…"

"I agree, and with its elimination, what shadow incursion could have pushed them to evoke?" She turned back to the pair through the glass, scrutinising every inch of the goofy looking pair. "Their aura is nothing like what we felt from Strega, and we haven't ever misplaced something from our technology department that could have such an effect…" She hummed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "They must have developed their power somewhere, but where, how…"

A silence hung heavy in the air, the pair of them racking their brains for an explanation. "…What should we do?" Fuuka asked finally.

Mitsuru pursed her lips. "As of present, I'm not sure. However, they did come here for our security posting, and they seemed capable enough for the task. Labrys especially took a real shine to them, and I know how isolated she can feel, so perhaps some company would be beneficial..." She scratched her chin. "And considering our line of work, their gifts may become invaluable." She nodded, having made her decision. "Make sure they're well monitored. We need data. Find out where they came from and look for anomalies. If that pair have managed to develop personas outside of the group's knowledge, there might be others, and a whole dimension of research we never even considered."

"Couldn't we just ask them?" The question came out of her mouth before she could think, and Mitsuru responded with a cold hard stare.

"Yamagishi-" She paused, remembering her manners. "Fuuka. We know nothing about these people. If they came from a situation remotely like Strega's, they could be an immediate threat if provoked. They came here of their own free will, and considering their," she thought back to them, standing small in her office, "Attitude, I doubt they have any machinations at present."

"Exactly," Fuuka argued, "If they're not a threat, why can't we tell them about us, and the shadow operatives?"

"Because I don't trust them." She replied simply. "Not yet. They're young, and most likely because of that, irresponsible. I'd rather not inform them of the wider issues in combatting shadows until we can be certain they can be useful, and not just blabber about us on the internet."

Fuuka could see she was making sense, but she wasn't too pleased about being so underhanded. "I'll set up the recording equipment in their quarters by the end of the day," she accepted uneasily, "And I'll talk to Takenowa-san about their work assignments. If they patrol the lab on a regular basis, maybe they'll say something interesting."

Mitsuru nodded slowly. "Excellent plan, but what if they recognise the equipment? We can't reveal our hand until the time is right."

Looking again at the pair on the screen, she made a quick judgement. "I'll make sure it's the man. He doesn't seem like the type to notice that sort of thing."

"Wonderful. Make sure you scour Labrys' memory banks from now on, I can see her forming an attachment with the woman." Now Fuuka felt a pang of guilt. Treating the maid like they did already was horrible enough, but to pry through her memories? "Business is going to keep me away," her boss continued, seemingly unaware of her ethical dilemma, "but keep me informed. Who knows what these two are capable of?"

Fuuka nodded, and left her friend to her numerous devices. She couldn't help but think her two new subjects, one tall, and the other much shorter. She could tell they had a certain strength, her power extending her reach in ways she still found surprising, and somehow, had a good feeling about them. What concerned her was their youth- they were kids, or close enough for it to matter, and while she knew from personal experience how irrelevant that can be when the going got really tough, she felt sorry the world they would now be mixed up in, of shadows, of pain, and inevitably, of loss.

* * *

><p><strong>AN- <strong>Hoorah, they got the job, who'dve thought? Tell me what you think so far, this pretty much covers the setup of the fic. Now I've gotta work on taking it somewhere. I'm already pretty happy; this has way more actual action than my other fics already! As always, thanks for reading! - _WN_


	5. Phoning Home

Time became a bit of a blur for Chie. One moment she had knocked someone out with a single kick, the next it turned out she had got the job she'd become so desperate for, and at some point Labrys had walked into the room and sparked off a new round of celebration. The maid had begun to prattle to her and her partner about how great their rooms were, and how they were right next to hers, and about how the next year was just gonna be _so fun_! Chie nodded when it seemed appropriate, and even smiled a few times, but she was far too overwhelmed to pay any real attention.

They now worked here. They didn't have to go home. They were gonna get paid and then at the end of the year she could use the money to move to a city, where the police force would have to accept her on the strength of the reference she would get here. She'd done what she set out to do. Surely, it would be smooth sailing from this point. She just had to keep her head down, be the best security guard she could be, and see the year out.

"And here they are!" Labrys' singsong voice broke her silent soliloquy, and she snapped to attention. "They're both the same, so you can pick whatever!" She laughed. "Now, I still got a lotta work to do today," she carried on, walking away from the pair, "But I'll see you two tonight, ya hear?"

Waving her a weak farewell, the two old friends looked at the door, trying to ignore their respective senses of apprehension. "I guess this is where we're stayin' for the year…" Kanji said timidly.

Chie could only muster a weak response. "Yeah…" She concurred. An uneasy silence blossomed, both unwilling to take the first step into their new room.

Fortunately, practicality forced Kanji to act. "Uh, my ribs're still hurtin' a little and I'm pretty tired, Im'ma catch some shut eye. Give Ma a call actually..."

_Crap. I've got a call to make too, _the girl thought. "That's a good idea, Kanji-kun." She smiled tiredly, and grasped the doors' handle. "You've earned some rest."

"Thanks," he replied, a slight blush on his cheeks, "Uh, you too." With a pair of nods, they took their leave of each other, and stepped into their new living space.

Inside, Chie wasn't hugely impressed, though she knew it was probably the grandeur of the rest of the mansion throwing off her frame of reference. It was still much bigger than her old room, with the bed in the centre much more luxurious than her usual futon. The problem was the décor, which followed the same shiny white marble that followed the rest of the mansion, from the walls to the floor. For Chie, that wasn't the kind of thing she wanted in a room. She wanted a comfortable carpet, lots of colours, movie posters everywhere, and most importantly, all her stuff.

Kirijo's people had worked fast; her bag was already on the bed, brought from the car that had taken them here. She couldn't help but think it looked a little small in the oppressive blankness of the bedroom. Taking a walk around, she discovered what she thought was part of the wall was actually the entrance of the dresser, a darkness of empty space that she'd never fill in a thousand lifetimes. _Rise would love this, _she thought to herself. Thinking of her glamorous friend brought her to the window, where she found an equally glamorous view. Being on one of the higher floors, she saw the top of the canopy that circled the estate, but more tantalising, the ocean beyond, and a crescent of the sparkling beach at its foot.

She allowed herself to just stare for what felt like a long while, her mind growing completely blank. But responsibilities were calling, and while one of them wasn't particularly present, they had to be done. Pulling out her cell, she sat on the windowsill, and dialled home.

Talking to her dad was easy, a lot of 'I'm very proud of you' and 'you seriously took that guy down?' She wasn't surprised, he had been very enthusiastic when she had eventually revealed her hair brained scheme. Calling her mom proved to be more difficult than she expected. There were a lot of tears, and some long winded speech about her baby flying the nest that she wasn't prepared for. But soon they ran out of things to talk about, and they gave up on the conversation, each promising to call as soon as they could. Now she had the difficult one. Quitting her old job.

The other end of the line began to ring, and far too quickly, the phone was picked up. "Detective Dojima, speaking."

Chie exhaled, and began her resignation. "Er," she started nervously, "Heya sir!"

He knew that voice, forcing itself to be far too casual. "Satonaka? Where have you been, you've used up all of your sick days, you realise…"

She rolled her eyes. _Always by the book… _"I realise that sir, though, that's not going to be an issue."

"Good," Dojima said seriously, "So you better be at work bright and early tomorrow."

The martial artist laughed in a way quietly hysterical. "Um, the thing is, sir, I'm sort of not in town right now."

This surprised the older man. "Really? Then where the hell are you?"

"Yakushima." She quickly explained her employment scheme, with a lot of emphasis on the fact she already had the job. "I thought this would be the best-"

"Well it wasn't." Her former boss replied, making her flinch. "Why didn't you talk to me about this, I could've…" His voice became quieter, turned away from the speaker, "Nanako, I'm busy…"

"Starting her off young in the office, dontcha think?" Chie commented, trying to steer away from the earful he would be no doubt wanting to deliver.

"It's bring your daughter to work day and-" He sighed. "She wants to talk."

Now this Chie definitely wasn't prepared for. Certainly she loved Nanako dearly, everyone did, but even seeing her made things far too painful. "Chie-chan?" A cute little voice asked through her phone's speaker.

"Hey, Nanako-chan," she replied shakily, "How's school?"

"Oh, school's great! We started doing English and it's really hard, all the words are funny! What are you doing big sis!"

Chie froze. "… Nanako-chan, can you not call me that?"

The girl giggled, a noise that seemed to scratch through Chie's eardrums. "But you are my big sis! Just like Naoto-kun and Rise-chan and Yuki-"

_That's the whole problem, _she thought bitterly_. _"Uh, Nanako-chan, I've got to talk to your dad about grown-up stuff, can we talk another time?"

"Oh… Okay…" The little girl's dejected voice broke Chie's heart, and she rubbed her eyes in frustration as she heard the phone being passed over.

"Great," the elder Dojima said tiredly "now I've gotta cheer her up."

"I'm sorry," Chie apologised, rapping her knuckles on her forehead, "It's just-"

"Look," Dojima sighed, long and drawn out. "I know you didn't like working here, and it's pretty obvious why. I don't know the details, but if you've gone that far away, you must have needed it." She could her him tapping his desk, trying to find the words. "What I mean is, you're an adult. And you did work well with me, when you wanted. So what I'm saying is, good luck. I hope you get what you need down there."

She had never heard the man be so heartfelt, aside from when it came to his daughter, and could only stutter out her response. "T-t-thank you, sir."

"Alright. Tell Tatsumi the same, would you? I knew there was something useful that punk could do with his ability to bash heads."

She laughed weakly. "I will. Thanks again sir!" She hit the red button on her keypad, and went back to staring out of the window. With that out of the way, bar a few compulsory calls to her family, she never had to think of home again. Leaning back, she wondered if she could finally feel at peace here.

In the next room, Kanji had his own family to think of. Lying on his new bed, he found his home number in his contacts. Circling the call button for a few moments, he resigned himself to a dull conversation, and pressed it down.

"Kanji-chan?"

It had been picked up almost instantly. _Shoulda called her when we touched down, _he berated himself. "Hey Ma," he greeted, not bothering to put any kind of cheer in his voice, "How's the shop?"

"Well, it hasn't burnt to the ground in the couple of days you've been gone." She joked wryly. Her voice took a serious edge. "I know you're an adult now dear, but when your moving away for the first time I expect you to call me more often."

Kanji sighed. "I know Ma. Tired after the flight, forgot."

"It's just you know I worry…"

"I know Ma."

"Even though you're so very strong I don't have to…"

He groaned. "I know Ma."

"And I know that Chie-chan is very strong too. Is she looking after you?"

The boy rolled his eyes. "No Ma, I can take care of myself, alright?" He tried to accelerate the course of the conversation. "Anyway, we got here safe Ma. Real nice place, you'd like it, and everythin's lookin' pretty sound…"

"That's wonderful, Kanji." He could hear the faint sound of knitting needles clicking, which A: ticked him off by reminding him he neglected to bring his own set, and B: made him feel horribly homesick. "No problems to speak of?" She asked innocently.

Considering her stance on the practiced punishment he gave out to some borderline illegal biker thugs, he knew his actions during the impromptu interview were probably best left out of proceedings. "Nope. We just got here, shook hands with a suit, and we're set up. All cool."

His mother sighed. "I can tell when you're lying son-"

Misguidedly sensing condescension in her voice, Kanji got slightly riled. "Listen you old bat, I'm telling-"

"But as long as you're okay that's all that matters." She finished, well versed in ignoring her son's outbursts. "Now, I'm not expecting you to call every night, but I'd like it if you kept me informed. Okay?"

He rolled to his side, feeling small in a way that could only be done by his mother. "Okay Ma…"

"Good. Now, work hard, and be safe." She paused for a moment. "Your father would be so proud of you." The throwaway comment struck Kanji, and once again, he found himself hanging from his father's last words to him. "And don't forget," she continued regardless, "you can always, always come home. Don't neglect your needlework. I love you," she signed off.

"Love ya too…" He mumbled, disconnecting the call. He had been reminded both of how he wasn't ready to strike out on his own, and how much he needed too. _But a man needs to stand on his own two feet,_ he reminded himself, letting his phone drop on the mattress, soon followed by his head to the pillow.

While not exactly sleeping easy, Kanji was an easy sleeper, gently falling into that strange oscillation between consciousness and trance without ever needing even a hint of exhaustion. By the time his senses had slowly returned to him, he could already see a bright moon casting shadow through his window, and a scatter of stars, even brighter than they were in his small town. Getting to his feet groggily, he appreciated his room's view as Chie did before him, only now, everything was dominated by the eerie blue of night, no doubt accentuated by the sea that dominated the horizon.

And of course with that colour, there was only one person on his mind.

He had to call her. He never called her. She never called him. But, he was so far away, there wasn't any real harm in such an act, was there?

His body acted before his brain had a hope of processing it, and he held the speaker tight to his ear. "Naoto Shirogane, speaking. Whom is calling?"

He hadn't heard that voice in so long; still serious, but much more relaxed from when he had first known her. He wasn't exactly sure what his crude, gruff growl should say in response. "Uh, hey Naoto."

"Yes, we've established that, but I asked who-" She stopped, old memories finally overtaking her usual protocols. "Kanji-kun. I apologise, I must not be up to date with your cell number."

"Nah, it's cool," he waved off, trying not to think about how she never needed his new one, "You got it now, right?"

"Indeed…" She trailed off, and neither of them spoke, Kanji gripping his phone tighter and tighter without even realising. "Why is it that you've called?" The detective asked finally.

"Oh, uh, I guess…" He squeezed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. _You've known her for years, this should be easy already. _"Uh, just wanted to say me and Chie are in, you know?"

"'In'?" Naoto repeated, with a curious tone that only confused Kanji. "Whatever do you mean?"

"I-uh… With the Kirijo job, I mean. We both got it." He felt an uncomfortable clamminess in his hands.

"Kirijo jobs?" He could just imagine her incredulous expression. "Kanji-kun, I have no idea what you're talking about."

His stomach sank, but he stuck with his story. "You know, Chie told me. About you wanting some dirt or info on these people or whatever, so we got this job." He began to realise how insane it sounded, a detective as strict as her breaking the law, for information on an incident which was resolved three years ago. "That's what you wanted, right?" He added helplessly.

The other end of the line was silent for a few moments. "…Kanji-kun," she began finally, "I'm not sure what Chie-senpai has told you, but I should not be considered a motivating factor for whatever position you have achieved." He sat on his bed, feeling slightly stumped. One of the key reasons for him moving out here was, in fact, a huge lie. "While I am, ah, flattered," she tried uselessly, "That you considered that, I am not particularly desperate for information. Anecdotes from fellow employees perhaps, or some hearsay worth pursuing…" She stopped herself before she let her imagination run too wild. "But, nevertheless, I feel your reasoning behind this move was slightly flawed."

A weak "Oh," was all Kanji could muster initially. Then, he quickly scrambled to cover himself. "Ah well, job still pays good, locations great, and I was kind of getting tired of sewing anyway."

Knowing her friend's passion for the art, Naoto couldn't believe that for one second. "Really?"

"Really," he lied. "Enough on me," he said, clumsily changing topics, "What's detecting been like lately?"

Though the question surprised her, she answered it anyway. "Oh, well, I have undertaken quite a few interesting cases since we last spoke. Just last month there was the strange circumstance of a man left dead with the only incongruous feature being the brand of tea he had drank that morning…"

From that point, Kanji steeled himself for listening to a thousand stories he wouldn't really understand, but needing to pay just the right amount of attention, enough to ask the right questions. It wasn't horrible for him, Naoto was an excellent story teller after all, but it was an experience that always left him feeling hallow, hearing grand tales of mystery and intrigue, starring the woman he so badly wanted, thousands of miles away.

* * *

><p><em>AN- <em>Another chapter, fleshing everything out. Merry Christmas to all you guys in internet-land! -_WN_


	6. First Day on the Job

"…So you're telling me you have no security plan?"

Chie and Kanji squirmed in their seats. They were risen by one of the maids- not Labrys, but an old, stern face, who with an impatient look, sent each of them to their wardrobes, where they found a whole set of appropriate work attire, black, white, and professional. Once their outfits were thrown on, they were taken to the meeting room, where Tensei sat waiting for them. Currently, his fingers were bridged, while his elbows rested on the desk, his hunched posture clearly showing his displeasure. "We just got here-" Kanji started.

Their superior held up his hand, sighing. "I suppose it could be argued that without a proper knowledge of the building and beyond, you wouldn't have been able to make an assessment…" The pair in front of him nodded desperately, as he pulled a set of blueprints out of his briefcase. Laying them neatly on the table, he placed a marker by their side, and looked up expectantly. "Make whatever arrangements you wish. The safety of the other employees is paramount, however, the facility we house below ground is also filled with incredibly valuable equipment, and as such, a regular patrol down there would be preferred."

Unsure, the new hires squinted over the map, tilting their heads as they tried viewing at different angles. They had never even thought about the job requiring actual mental capacity, summarising the posting as 'security' being standing around and looking tough. Chie traced her finger slowly around one of the maps, following a dotted white line. "So this is…" she murmured.

"The boundary of the compound, yes. We expect the exterior to be as well swept as the interior." He coolly stifled a yawn, and pointed to the corner of the document. "This is the scale," he added somewhat helpfully. "As you can see, there is a lot of ground to cover."

Kanji took a look at the lines, and balked. "What!? The place is about the size of the shopping district!" He peered at the bespectacled man. "We gotta cover that every day?"

"Indeed. I remind you splitting up will be necessary to assure a satisfactory coverage." His practical advice was rewarded with blank stares, and he once again wondered what potential Mitsuru possibly saw within the two imbeciles. He tried being more direct. "If I might suggest, taking an inventory of the laboratory, which is a regular duty, will be rather time consuming, so if one of you takes that responsibility, the other will be left with enough time to cover the grounds adequately."

The two of them had their curiosity piqued at the word laboratory, which of course, meant they had to fight over it. "I guess I can take the lab work, and you outside, right Kanji?" Chie said casually.

Her partner shook his head firmly. "Nu-uh. I don't wanna have to walk that far every day. I'll take the lab."

Chie's brow furrowed. "C'mon, I got us this job, gimme this one-"

The comment provoked a sharply raised eyebrow. "You got us?!"

"Sure," she said, oblivious to his offense, "I got us inside and talking to Labrys, and I kicked that guy, and I wanted us here in the first place, so…"

"I thought this was a team effort…" The boy growled.

"It is," Chie countered, her own tone growing more aggressive, "But sometimes you have to recognise who was the MVP."

The blonde only snarled. "MVP my-"

"Enough!" Tensei had no patience left for the buffoons he had been charged with. Exhaling slowly, with the pair left in a meek silence, he removed his glasses and indicated to Kanji. "Your application says you've worked extensively at your mother's textile store, correct?" He nodded. "Therefore, you should already be well versed in the taking of an inventory, of your stock and such, yes?" He nodded again. "And you," he continued, turning his attention to Chie, "You mentioned taking a morning run, and a certain training in the martial arts?" She too, nodded quietly. "I imagine that means you have a higher level of aerobic fitness then your counterpart then," He concluded, getting too his feet. Grabbing his briefcase, he moved to the door. "I am sure you can find a resolution to your disagreement then. I expect for you to be beginning your patrols in the next hour." He was halfway through the doorway, when he stopped, shook his head, and returned for a moment. He planted his palms firmly on the table. "Listen. I do _not,_" he emphasised with a heavy hand, "have time to deal with two children running around this mansion. You _will_ be professional, and you _will _perform to my expectations, or so help me you will be on the first boat out of here, no matter what Mitsuru's feelings are. Understood?" Without even waiting for their response, he hotly made his exit. He was satisfied to know he had fulfilled Fuuka's strange request of ensuring the boy would have an extended time in the lab, but left utterly despondent as to how he was supposed to place his trust in those two young people.

The new security team sat in silence, the older man's outburst leaving them lost for words. "Guy's an asshole…" Kanji mumbled.

Chie shrugged weakly. "An asshole with a point." She moved her seat so she was facing her friend. "What's up with you this morning?"

While her concern might usually only rile him even further, he was just tired of bullshit. "I talked to Naoto," He said simply.

_Crap, _Chie thought. "Kanji-"

"Don't bother, alright?" He averted her gaze, eyes planted firmly on the table. "Look, I don't wanna talk about my shit, and you _never_ wanna talk about yours…" He looked at his partner now, eyes hard. "We're done with that crap, that's why we're here. So, yeah, I'm pissed with you, but I don't particularly, care, I guess…" He trailed off, then pulled the map on the table closer to the two of them. "I think he wants me to do the lab duty."

His partner was surprised. She didn't have to defend herself, explain her actions, or even regret what she did. She knew she had to throw Kanji a bone there. "Okay." She agreed. "I can do my outdoor sweep as my morning jog I guess. Plus the weather's nice…"

Kanji nodded. "We can switch a few weeks in, if you want."

She placed an appreciative hand on her friend's shoulder. "Cool. Guess we can say the same for whatever else we agree here."

"Alright. So, who has to sweep the top floor…"

They spent the next half hour slowly organising a schedule that would allow them a complete coverage of the compound, with a generous allowance for lunch and breaks. "So," Chie said, "Can we clock off once we've done our rounds for the day do you think?"

"Nah," Kanji replied, "Gotta look like we're working."

"Guess we can meet up," she offered, "With Labrys too! We can just hang out, hell, we could say we're 'staking out' the beach!" She said this excitedly, fingering the hyphens.

The boy's features brightened. "That'd be kickass. Not sure how much free time we'll get though…" He scratched his head. "Besides, I'm guessing we'll have to go off schedule if there's like visitors or anything."

"Oh yeah. Check they're not assassins!" She laughed, which faded quickly. "Huh. I've just realised that's literally our job." Her eyes twinkled in a manner Kanji found quite disturbing. "And if Mitsuru is as powerful as she looks, it could actually happen!"

"Careful what you wish for," her partner muttered. "What's our plan for that? Stick to Mitsuru like glue, pat people down?"

Chie tilted her head, her prior bravado replaced by a slight unease. "I guess? Hey, shouldn't we have guns?"

His brow furrowed. "_Hell_ no. That'd just make things complicated. 'Sides," he continued pointedly, "I know sure as heck you don't have your license, else you'dve been dancing around town with a piece all day."

"I didn't get that far in my training," Chie sulked. "But I'd totally be great with one! I'll ask Takenowa-san about it."

Kanji rolled his eyes. "Dude isn't gonna get us that shit, dude's too by the book. Our fists have worked pretty well so far anyway."

"Legs in my case," Chie corrected. "Y'know," she mused, "when we were applying, I kept picturing you standing as a doorman with that ridiculous looking chair in your hands."

"Hey," the tailor objected, "That thing was great! Did all sorts of damage!"

"It did," she sniggered in reply, "you still looked like a total dork though."

Her remarks were not appreciated in any way, but more to the point, it was getting close to the hour. Kanji got to his feet. "So, I guess I've gotta do my rounds.

Standing up, Chie agreed. "Yeah. Me too. See ya later I guess…" They both moved to the hallway, and each struggling to remember the building's layout, settled on going left and right respectively. "Wait," the martial artist called, Kanji turning his head back to her. "We're gonna do a good job today," she declared, raising an optimistic thumb, "And every day after, you hear?"

He nodded back with a smile, and continued on his way, knowing the key to his assignment was finding some stairs, or an elevator, anything in general that went down, seeing as the only hint he had to getting to the lab was that it was underground. His theory was good, but in practice it was more difficult to execute upon. The large stairs of lobby only went to the ground floor, and once there he found himself stuck. He trawled through the corridors of the mansion, but nothing resembling the sliding doors of the elevator became apparent, and he knew going through any of the mansions many pristine white doors could end with him interrupting somebody working, or going somewhere he shouldn't.

So his wandering continued, for a painful half hour, until a flash of blue-grey, turning a corner far away from the tailor, gave him his salvation. "Labrys-san!" He shouted as she disappeared, poking her head back round the wall to answer the call and then smiling broadly.

"Kanji-kun!" They walked towards each other, Labrys wagging a haughty finger. "Quit it with that 'san' business, I ain't your boss. How's the first day goin'?"

"Not great," he admitted. "Help me out here, I gotta find the lab, kn-"

Upon hearing the word lab, the maid clasped a hand firmly over the boy's mouth, looking around in all directions. "Keep it down, will ya?" She hissed. Releasing him, she began walking, and beckoned him to follow. "Sorry," she whispered, "Not everyone here's supposed to know about it. I honestly wasn't sure if Takenowa was gonna put you in the loop…"

Kanji's face twisted, in some confusion. "But ya mentioned it to us yesterday, when we weren't even workin' here."

"No I didn't-" She began to object, and then she remembered their conversation. "Crap." She looked up to him pleadingly. "Don't tell anyone else. Slip-up like that could get a girl fired…"

The boy's eyebrows rose. "Seriously? Is it that big a deal?"

"You got no idea dude," Labrys insisted. "It's so secret, only Fuuka-chan and Mitsuru-san know what's actually going on down there. Takenowa knows it's there, and that's about it. I don't even think the stiff cares, he ain't got an ounce of life in him."

The blunt snipe she had made at their boss made Kanji smirk. "You don't like him, do you?"

"Eh…" She answered, not bothering to hide her contempt. "He's a good boss, when he's not bein' a colossal stick in the mud I mean," She clarified. "But I dunno. I get the feelin' he doesn't have any respect for me, since I got this gig from the CEO herself. Not bein' qualified and stuff, think it really bugs the uptight so-and-so."

"I know the feeling," Kanji nodded. A thought pricked him. "So, if you're just a maid, no offense, why do you know about it? The lab I mean."

"Someone has to clean up down there," she shrugged, "Guess they figured since I'll keep quiet, owing Mitsuru-san my job an' stuff."

The statement made Kanji a little uncomfortable. _So does she feel trapped here or something? _He wondered. He shook his head. _I've known her less than a day, I'm sure things are fine._ "What goes on down there?" He asked, more for the sake distraction from his internal worries.

"Not sure. You'll see, the gadgets are just super weird. They all look pretty useless. You ask me," She lowered her voice, "You know how money makes people crazy?" Remembering the many spats he'd often witnessed caused by the investigation team borrowing money from Yosuke, he nodded. "It makes rich people mega-crazy, or eccentric, eh, whatever you like to call it. I figure this is Mitsuru-san's way of going nuts."

"Makes sense…" Kanji agreed. "Man, it's gonna be an ass taking inventory of a buncha crap I don't even understand…"

"I'm not worried," she went on, "Keeps Fuuka in a job, and she runs the rest of the company pretty well." She thought for a few seconds. "Yeah, it is doing pretty well…" She looked at Kanji. "Why've they got you doing inventory? You'd think they could afford a lab assistant or something…"

"Uh." Kanji droned. "Didn't even think of that."

They stayed quiet for a few moments. They knew things didn't completely add up in this place, but there wasn't really much to question, yet at least. "Ah well," Labrys winked, "As long as I'm not the sucker that has to do it!"

Kanji was about to retort, when they finally stopped walking, in a small hallway right in the centre of the mansion. Labrys knocked three times on the wall, and it swung inwards, almost instantaneously, and in complete silence. The blondes jaw was left hanging, and the maid could only roll her eyes. "Told ya, rich people are crazy." Leading him into the narrow passage, and down some dark steps, she gestured upwards. "See the ceiling? Those bumps are the main staircase. And down here," she pointed to a blank white panel, besides a sheet of what Kanji guessed was incredibly thick metal, "Is how we get in."

She pressed her fingertip against the panel, incredibly lightly, but it was enough to generate the response, the metallic sheet sliding away to reveal an incredibly vast space, crisscrossed with benches and tools, the mansion's laboratory. Striding confidently through the gap, she waved to an individual at a desk far in the room, who's only distinguishable feature Kanji could find at this distance was their aqua-blue hair. The colour stabbed a prick of longing into his heart, after all, blue hair was rare to come by, and this new shade was much closer to that of his favourite detective than the kind Labrys expressed.

"Labby-chan!" They welcomed warmly, voice carrying through the vastness of the facility.

Kanji nudged his friend, as they moved over to meet the stranger. "Labby-chan?"

She looked right back up at him fiercely. "Yeah, you got a problem?" Cooling off quickly as they got to the, as now Kanji could tell, woman's, desk, the maid rose her hand into a mock salute. "Two mindless drones, reporting for duty, ma'am!"

The older woman giggled gently. "Oh, Labrys-chan, you know you're more than a simple drone, don't you?"

"Really?" She grinned. "When do I get my raise?" The girls broke into more laughter, Kanji standing beside them with a bashful expression. Labrys eventually presented him to her friend with a grand arm. "This is Kanji-chan, one of the new muscle we hired. Don't worry, he's not as much a meathead as he looks, I think…"

"Hey! What're ya…" He stopped his outburst, remembering he was in the middle of a first impression. He looked back to the seated woman. "Uh, yeah. It's Kanji, Kanji Tatsumi. You're Fuuka or summit', right?"

She nodded affably. "That's right. I'm Fuuka Yamagishi, Mitsuru-senpai's head researcher."

"Senpai?" He blurted, thinking back the old dynamic he had once had Yasogami high, and in fact, still had with Chie. "She was your senpai?"

Labrys answered for her. "Yeah! They went to school in Tatsumi Port Island. I swear I mentioned it…" A penny dropped, and the greyish haired girl practically jumped over to the other side of the desk, to be cowering next to Fuuka. "Ahhh!" She pointed erratically at Kanji. "Tatsumi! There's a conspiracy here… Somewhere…"

The two other employees glanced at the shaking Labrys with an idle curiosity, not bothering to reassure the girl. "…So," Kanji started smoothly, "Odd coincidence."

"Yes," Fuuka agreed, readily diverting attention from her friend to her new acquaintance. "Though honestly, it's not like much as changed since then. She was the president of one of the school clubs, and I was always talking orders from her. Mitsuru's a good leader." Kanji really examined her then. Her hair was blue, a much lighter shade than Naoto's ever was, and from his own experience with the detective, he knew it wasn't worth asking if it was dyed or somehow natural. Otherwise, all he could get from her was… Small. Perhaps because she was sitting down, but her frame was slight, and her face just looked so soft, much like-

_Stop, _he told himself. _That ain't freakin' helping, and it ain't work appropriate. _He wished he had a manual on how to move past a crush, because he could tell if he was gonna be working with Fuuka a lot, he'd be spending a lot of time mooning unless the manned the hell up. "Thass' cool," he said, hoping there hadn't been as long a pause as he thought. He noticed Labrys, who must've gotten bored with freaking out, was simply sitting on the floor. "So, um, what am I gonna be doing down here?" He looked around, visibly cringing at all the bits and bobs left strewn on tables, alongside the huge machines that as far as he could tell, had no purpose whatsoever. "Er, if you don't mind me asking, what do you even do down here?"

Fuuka snorted. In the rare times anyone else came down to her workspace, they asked the same thing, and she was running out of ways to spin the mess she made. "Oh, nothing much, just low-level R&D. That's," she added, worrying she might have moved too fast. "Research and development."

The tailor narrowed his eyes and looked away. "I knew that…"

The researcher looked down, feeling slightly guilty. She could always count on sticking her foot in her own mouth. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

He stopped her apology, realising he was being an ass. "Oh no, don't…" He sighed, and rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry. I'm just used to bein' the idiot. Tired of it."

A wide eyed Fuuka, still distraught for causing even such a minor offense, tried to make him take back the apology. "No, I was being completely rude, to a total stranger even, I shouldn't-"

"Goddammit," he cut in, "I was being a moron, that's the end of it."

A silence set in, both parties both hating themselves a little more each passing second, until a third party diffused the situation. "Jeez," Labrys quipped, "I didn't think I'd ever find a person as awkward as you are, Fuuka-chan, but here we are!" They both looked down at her hotly, Kanji leaning over the desk to do so, but her smile was sweet as sugar. Looking back to each other, they couldn't help but grin ever so slightly. The moment was broken by a shrill screech by the girl one the floor. "Crap! I gotta get back to work or else I'll never be able to clock off on time…" Springing to her feet, the girl was about to zoom off, before stopping in front of Kanji. "Hey, you know where Chie-chan's gonna be? Might as well run into her today as well."

"Somewhere on the grounds," he answered, "she's got lawn duty. You'll have to look for her though."

The maid tapped her chin thoughtfully "Alright. Hey, I'll see you two later!"

She ran off, leaving Kanji with what was essentially his supervisor while he was down here. "That girl is freakin' fast." He looked to the door, trying to roughly calculating the distance. "Actually, how the hell did she get out of the room in less than-"

"Oh, her job makes her fast," Fuuka roughly explained, far too quickly, a quality lost on Kanji. "Okay," she clapped her hands. The trap was set, Tatsumi was down here, and would be for many shifts to come, giving her ample to time to probe him and analyse his persona ability. A pang of guilt due to having yet another test subject running through the mansion coursed through her veins, which she suppressed while still feeling mostly awful. The problem right now was actually giving the cover story of this lab shift some substance. Once again bemoaning all the clutter she had managed to leave strewn around the laboratory over the years, she had a slightly wicked idea. Gulping, she made it a reality. "Well, I have some desk work to be doing." Her voice grew small. "If you could start by clearing the desks, that would be…"

Fortunately for her, her timid manner was not picked up by her new assistant, who nodded and said, "Alright." He swivelled to the bench at his back, and Fuuka felt as if with murder, and not in a joyful way. Kanji scanned the table, and realised he didn't know what the hell he needed to do. "Uh, Fuuka-san? What should I throw away?"

If she wanted to be honest, she would have said "Nothing". A rational part of her however reminded her how most of those trinkets were of no importance, and if she hadn't looked for them for so long then she most likely wouldn't need them. "I would say," she started slowly, "Anything bigger than, um, let's say your hand, ask me about. The rest isn't worth much."

Kanji tilted his at the collection on the table. He didn't know much about technology, but between the circuitboards and nuts and bolts and who knew what the rest was, it all looked very expensive. "You sure?"

"It's okay," Fuuka said in a reassuring manner, "Most of the little things are actually worthless, or not that useful. The worst case is me putting in an order for new stock."

At his family's shop, such a wasteful attitude would have sunk the business a million times over. "Mitsuru-san really give you that much free reign over budget stuff?" He asked casually, looking through draws for something vague resembling a bin bag.

"Oh yes, she is very invested in my work. You can find some plastic bags over there," She pointed, noticing his struggle.

"Oh, thanks." He walked over to where she pointed and grabbed a few from the cupboard, beginning to throw in whatever he could grab from the table.

Biting her lip, Fuuka still felt bad for accidentally insulting the newcomer to the mansion. "Tatsumi-san, I am sorry for my unwarranted assumption earlier…"

The blonde rolled his eyes, continuing his menial task. "Are you still on that? I was the moron back there."

She sighed, still feeling repentant. "But you are new here, I should have been-"

"You're one of those people that has to apologise for everything, aren't ya?"

The scientist considered that for a moment, and could only agree. "Yes," she said, slightly amused such an accurate judge of her character could come a near-stranger. "How could you tell?"

"Let's just say," he exhaled, "I know someone else like that. Well, she has a headstrong streak when she knows she's right, but whatever."

"That's something I'm missing," Fuuka tried to joke. She soon felt sincere again. "I do apologise, sincerely. I know what it means to be treated like…" She trailed off, and stared into her lap.

He turned away from his work, her quiet form bringing out his protective side. "What was wrong?" He asked, as smoothly as he could manage.

She was silent for a little while, before coming back to reality with an apologetic smile. "Oh. Sorry." She exhaled slowly. "I suppose it was the opposite really. Some people picked on me back in high school for being a bit of a bookworm." Her smile broadened. "Mitsuru-senpai and some other people helped me push past it. I even made good friends with some of those people…"

Kanji couldn't help but notice the sparkle in her eyes during her reminiscence. "You really look up to Kirijo-san, don't you?"

Fuuka blushed profusely. "Sorry. It isn't a corporate worshipping of superiors. She's just truly an amazing woman. I hope you'll see that for yourself during your time here."

It was far to gushing an endorsement to be considered normal, but he'd be lying if he said he'd never felt something similar. "I had a senpai kinda like that. Dude really had his head on straight, helped me a lot..."

His elder smiled even wider. "Really? I had another senpai, they taught me a lot about myself," She said, the glow in her face fading. "They're… Not around anymore…"

Kanji smirked without humour. "Neither's mine. Turned out he wasn't as perfect as everyone thought." Fuuka's morbid reverie was broken, and she pricked her ears as he returned to throwing rubbish into the trash. "Kinda why I'm here to be honest. He left, everything went to shit, I stuck around, and now I'm here."

His words had a hidden gravitas that Fuuka could just sense, but at this stage, it felt uncomfortable to pry. "I'm sorry," she said simply, "Sounds like it was tough."

He shrugged. "I'm here now. Corporate job straight out high school is the dream, right, 'specially in this economy." Honestly, he had just heard that on a news program he'd somehow ended up watching, and it seemed a good enough justification for where his life had brought him.

They soon settled into their working patterns, or rather, something. While pretending to be reading or writing, she was actually spending her time glancing at the persona-user, seeing if she could build a picture of him. She already knew a few things about his personality. He didn't like his intelligence to be insulted for one thing, and for another, he was immediately ready to pull up his sleeves and get to work. Some sort of event prompted him to apply for the job here, would the same be said of his partner? _Could that event be shadow related, _she mused quietly, taking a note on a spare piece of paper. On the topic of shadows, she tried to reach in, to her persona, to see whatever she could scan from the boy, but she didn't learn much new. He definitely had the potential, and it didn't seemed powerful enough to have that rare power to switch between many. She could also tell his persona reflected his well, but it was a persona, they always were fundamentally a part of the users psyche. There was something different, something tiny, something about how they were linked together which was different to any other persona-user she had encountered at this point. If only she could just use her full power, if only she could just…

"Yo, Fuuka-san, why've you got a gun?" Startled, she saw he had an evoker in his hand, emblazoned with the Kirijo group logo. Of course, she had been using the same one for years, but she had sometimes had others fabricated, purely to tinker with. "This ain't some sort of weapons lab…" The tailor asked, his pupils started darting all around the room. "Is it?"

Fuuka waved her arms erratically, getting up from her seat. "No, not at all!" She laughed nervously. Making her way to the boy, she attempted to dissuade his fears. "This is just, a, uh… Part of a costume!"

"Costume?"

"Yes!" She said brightly, firmly taking the piece from his hands. She was slightly unnerved as she took in the full extent of their height difference, staring right into his, she blushed when she realised, well defined chest. She distracted herself by garbling the rest of her excuse. "I mean, for dressing up. It was from a cartoon when I was growing up; all the heroes used these things."

The tailor's interest was piqued. "Really? What was it called, I might've seen it."

She could only muster the lamest possible answer. "…Tartarus." Worried she saw a flash of incredulity on Kanji's face, she tried covering herself further. "It didn't run for long, wasn't very popular, haha…" She laughed weakly, walking back to her desk and shoving the evoker into one of the drawers, making a mental note to conceal the more questionable equipment in the lab more effectively. "Not much to talk about, it was very generic," she lied, desperately driving her helper away from asking too many questions.

"Oh… That's cool I guess." Kanji would be lying if he said he wasn't disappointed. He had a certain affection for some of the zanier kids shows he had grew up with, one long kept secret, like his other hobbies. He was half hoping that could've been the start of a decent conversation, because otherwise, he had no idea how he'd could make friends with a genius scientist like she seemed to be. "I'll get back to work then…"

The rest of their afternoon was permeated by an uncomfortable silence, the two individuals wanting to know more about each other, but simultaneously having nowhere to start. In Fuuka's case it was a matter of following orders, but she couldn't bring herself to start digging. She was worried she might be too obvious, get something wrong, and send the two newcomers packing before they learned something useful. _It's okay, _she told herself, still snatching glances at her new charge in between scrutinizing the next in a series of endless documentation, _we have time. _


	7. Fresh Air

Chie's wandering had given her ample opportunity to make some conclusions on the grounds of the Kirijo's mansion. Firstly, the whole place was as generic as could be, the dusty front of the building and its fountain as if being picked out from some exclusive catalogue, while the bushes and grass elsewhere provided an eerily perfect symmetry. Secondly, the person who designed the place was somewhat paranoid, not content with the tropical forests of Yakushima Island being enough to protect the land, and instead surrounding the complex with sheer white wall, topped with an array of imposing spikes. Finally, she could tell the gardeners must have been very good at their jobs, with the flowerbeds laid at the back of the mansion being dotted with a huge variety of colours and types, arranged into intricate patterns, all following that familiar pattern of symmetry.

It was an incredibly precise place, leaving Chie impressed, but also, a little sad. _All this space, _she thought wistfully, _and you're not even meant to run around. _Sure, this was a typical example of upper class sophistication, but the mansion was owned by a CEO that could only be described as ultra-upper class. Where were the eccentricities, a race track perhaps, a stable of exotic stallions, or even something as small as a collection of fine china? Chie would have appreciated a giant statue of Mitsuru more than the sterile environment she seemed to have made for herself. Sitting on the grass behind, the martial artist scowled at the building. _Man, if I was rich I'd have a lot more fun with it…_

A door swung open at the foot of the mansion, springing Chie to attention. Half-scared Takenowa's spectre would be pouncing on this one instance of laziness, she was pleasantly surprised to see the professionally-garbed Labrys stepping out into the sunshine. Quickly spotting Chie, she raised an arm in greeting and skipped towards her. "Heya," the maid smiled, "Kanji said I'd find ya out here!"

"Oh," Chie replied, stretching her arms. "You've seen him today already?"

"Yeah, had to show the dummy directions to the not-so-secret lab." Worry flashed across the girl's forehead. "You're on the level with that too, right?"

The brunette's eyebrows shot up. "We have a secret lab?!" She could only enjoy Labrys' dumbstruck expression before she crumpled into laughter. "'Course I am, me and Kanji are a team. Man, the look on your face…"

The younger girl scowled and sat down on the grass. "That's a mean trick to play on a girl."

"You have a point," Chie admitted, plonking herself down beside her friend, "Especially on one who's like a mental age of two."

The maid looked at her incredulously. "The hell are you sayin'?"

She shrugged, but treaded carefully, knowing she may have hit a nerve. "Your amnesia? You said yourself you only remember the last couple of years, so…"

"So?" She scoffed back. "I didn't like, forget how to read and write and stuff. And I can do math pretty fast in my head y'know…"

Labrys drew in her knees and adopted a sulky posture, making Chie feel mostly awful. "I'm sorry," she apologised, "that's not something you can joke about to someone you've only known for a day…"

The amnesiac looked up to her, bottom lip trembling, which halted with a mischievous wink. "Hah, I can pull a trick too!"

Chie snorted, glad to see she hadn't actually offended her co-worker, and also glad to see she wasn't thin skinned, a trait of Kanji's that annoyed her to no end. "Still," she started remorsefully, "That's not cool. I can't ever imagine not being able to remember-"

"Hey." Labrys looked at her seriously. "Cut it out with that depressin' crap. I've gotten enough sympathy from people already, its fun to have someone who'll actually give me shit for it."

Her friend wasn't particularly convinced. "Uh… Really?"

"Dude, you have no idea how boring everyone else is round here. The other maid's idea of humour is the same five knock-knock jokes over and over, and the cooks and gardeners all just have weird cliques." She laid herself down on the grass, and stared at the sky. "Trust me, jokes at my expense are preferable. Besides don't think I won't fire back when I eventually get dirt on you!"

The martial artist placed a dainty hand on her chest, the picture of innocence. "Dirt? There's no dirt, I'm pure as pure." While her friend looked wonderfully comfortable in the dirt, Chie knew she still had a lot of ground to cover for her shift. Standing, she held out a hand to her companion. "I've gotta do some more patrolling around here, you coming with?" While ticked she had to get up so quickly, the maid took the offered assistance, her friend making a silent note she was much heavier than her small frame made her first believe. _Now that's something that might be too sore to bring up, _Chie thought humourlessly.

"I am gonna find something to tease you about though," Labrys declared, as the pair began following the patrol route, "And when I do, you aren't gonna forget it!"

The security guard shook her head, smiling. "Why is that a big deal for you?"

"Umm…" She stalled awkwardly, before sighing. "It's what people in TV and movies do to their 'best friends'." She shyly looked to the ground. "I'm hoping you and Kanji-kun might become…"

Chie smirked. "Wow, you are sooooo lame," She teased, and afterwards, before the girl could protest, laying an arm across her shoulders. "I hope so too. And I bet he does as well."

The girls smiled at each other, for a few moments enjoying the good company and the pleasant weather. Then Labrys clapped her hands together. "Alright! Finding dirt on Chie: part one!" She pointed at her with a fierce intensity. "Are you and Kanji-kun together?"

The implication was sudden and obvious, leaving Chie spluttering. "I- What- I mean…" She struggled. "What makes you think that?"

Labrys looked at her oddly. "What? You're a girl, he's a guy, and you moved thousands of miles here, together. You're obviously close."

"And?" She took a step away from her friend, and held her arm awkwardly. "We're friends. That's what good friends do?"

To the maid's credit, she looked legitimately confused. "Wha? All the movies I watched, just looked like the guy an' gal were close, friend-like, and then they got together. I thought it was like, a convenience thing."

It was at this moment, Chie realised how truly sheltered this girl was. With no real reference for how any kind of relationship worked, she had to make her best guess from whatever she had available. "Do you always try to learn about that kind of thing from movies?"

She looked away, but the martial artist knew that if she could see her eyes, there would only be sadness. "It's all I had. No-one my age to talk to, films TV and the internet were the only things available, and movies are much easier to binge through than a buncha articles or blogs."

"Labrys-chan…" Chie wished she had something to say, but her own experience was just so minuscule compared to the burden her friend had to carry. "I'm so sorry…"

"Oi!" The martial artist could see her friend's face now, and while her eyes still had a certain melancholy, her stern expression at least had energy behind it. "I said none of that depressin' sympathy, alright?"

Chie nodded firmly. "Okay."

"Moving on," Labrys drawled, looking ahead, "Have you like, ever had a boyfriend or anything?" A question that forced her to think back to her first boyfriend, her only boyfriend, her ex-boyfriend, that made her stop in her tracks. Blanking out for a few moments, it took a concerned Labrys taking her hand to snap her back to reality. "Hey, you alright?"

Chie tried to smile, but it was only weak. "Yup, completely I- Nope." She couldn't keep lying, not to herself, or to her friend, who needed every dose of what was 'real' she could get. "I'm really not. I mean, who moves away from home, takes a completely random job, all to get away from one boy?"

Labrys tilted her head. "That's why you're here? Bad breakup or something?"

"The worst," Chie said tersely, leading the pair of them to the nearby perimeter wall, and leaning back on it, sinking to the floor. She noticed Labyrs shiver slightly. "Something wrong?"

She was staring the wall up and down, judging the smooth concrete. "I don't like walls like this… They just make me feel… I dunno, they block everything…" She turned to her friend, joining her on the floor, determined to help if she could. "Never mind that, we need to talk about this boy."

Chie's eyes were half open, staring into nowhere in particular. "Do we?"

"Of course, that's what girls do!" This had been announced proudly, but the maid quickly shrunk. "In the movies at least."

The security guard looked back to her co-worker, who was spacing out like she was. Sighing, she came to an interesting realisation. She had never really told her side of the story. Her mom had pried, of course, but she really didn't feel like spilling her soul, and letting her mother spill her private life across the intricately networked parents' web of Inaba. Even Kanji she felt was too close to the incident, and things had become so easy in pretending nothing had happened. But now, she had the perfect audience, willing to listen, and without the experience to be able to judge or comment. "Do you want to hear a love story, Labrys?" Her friend turned to her, interest raised. "This is a real love story, and it's not pretty. You'll have all the dirt you'd ever want from me by the end. Hopefully you'll learn something about how these things actually work."

The younger girl scratched her chin. "Like what?"

"That you can't really know a person. That they'll hurt you. That boys freakin' suck…" Her audience laughed at that last blunt assessment, while Chie smiled solemnly, and began her tale. "His name was Yu Narukami, he was a transfer student from the city…"

_When the new kid had back chatted King Moron after only a minute in the classroom, Chie was not only impressed, but awed. She half berated herself for offering the seat next to her to save him from their teacher's became wrath, curious to see how far this guy would could've taken it. "Wow," she whispered as he sat down, "We've never had an entrance like that before."_

_"You've never had a guy like me before." The line was corny, but luckily he chuckled, so he was thankfully being ironic. "Sorry. Too good a setup. I'm Yu Narukami, if you've already forgotten."_

_Chie was almost ashamed to admit she had, what with the spectacle he had made for himself after his initial introduction to the class. "I'm Chie Satonaka. Guess we're desk buddies for the year."_

_He smiled, and Chie felt her stomach stir in a way unfamiliar, and strangely exciting. "I'm looking forward to it."_

_"Hey, new boy!" Mr. Morooka shouted mid-lecture, "Quit trying to impregnate the class, I deal with enough of you babies as it is! As I was saying…"_

_Chie blushed a whole new shade of pink, and tried to focus on the boring old man in the front of the class, difficult when there was an interesting young one right beside her. She rubbed her eyes furiously. 'What the hell is up with me today?' she thought to herself, fully knowing the answer, while not quite wanting to admit it_

_The announcement of the incident outside of the school sparked furious speculation. Chie would have best friend Yukiko Amagi wasn't paying attention. She looked tired, tired like she had been for the last few weeks, and Chie had all but given up on trying to help. She just hoped the reporters for the Yamano story would leave town soon, and give her heiress friend the rest she deserved._

_So instead, she just chatted to the new kid, Yu, trying to give a detailed rundown of how the school worked, and give him a picture of the Inaba life. It was only natural to invite him to walk home with her and Yukiko, and tried not to think about what he thought to her crippling of Yosuke Hanamura, courtesy of her broken copy of 'trial of the dragon'. The violence of the day didn't stop there; she had been very close to knocking the lights out of a creepy stranger who had tried hitting on Yukiko- he didn't even go to their school! _

_On their way home, past the floodplains of the sleepy town, she asked Yu a not totally innocent question. "So, you think Yukiko's pretty, right?" _

_It made sense. Yu, Yukiko, it seemed like they should fit together. Every boy in town figured they would fit with Yukiko at least, why should the newbie be any different? And it was okay. She wanted her friend to be happy, and figured it was about time she found her special someone. Why would it concern her, she was just trying to help…_

_Yukiko's sigh and blush was expected, and admittedly the whole point of the exercise. Why she was hoping for something similar to come from the transfer student, his cool reply left her in the same state as her best friend. "Of course. I've already noticed this town has an abundance of that quality." It wasn't his voice leaving the martial artist staring at her feet. It was his gaze, piercing, accompanied by an assured brow and sly smile. It was directed at her, but it wasn't supposed to be, was it? Surely it was meant for Yukiko, but looking back up, their pupils locked, and she snapped her head away before her heart started fluttering too quickly. _

_Their arrival at a crime scene pushed thoughts of Yu Narukami to the back of her mind, but only barely. The body of a famous announcer, Mayumi Yamano, had been found, grotesquely displayed on a TV antenna in the suburbs. That was to only be the start of the troubles Inaba faced that year. Soon, their upperclassman Saki Konishi was found in a similar circumstance, and all of a sudden, the most boring town in Japan held residence to a serial killer. It excited Chie, when she wasn't being horrified by it all, but the heavy atmosphere around the town, and other strange events besides, left her feeling stressed. So there was only one thing to do._

_She strolled to the riverside, taking her usual spot, and started hopping on the spot, warming up her muscles. Kicking the ass of some phantom bad guys was just what she needed. Sure, she wasn't professionally trained, or combat ready, but she was certain she could send some of the bigger guys in school crying home to their mothers. In any case, she was about to throw out a few kicks, when she saw a clumsy combat stance being adopted besides her. "Yu-kun!"_

_They had gotten friendlier in the last couple weeks, to the point where they could easily call each other friends. She still had this weird feeling about him, but she decided it was refreshing to talk to a guy who wasn't inquiring about Yukiko every five minutes. She loved the girl with all her heart, but she was an imposing figure to stand besides, being not only elegant heiress of local heritage, but being damn beautiful to boot. Chie had to shove off so many questions, what food did she like, bigger guys or leaner ones, where did she hang out, what was her phone number, etcetera etcetera. Being Yukiko's best friend, her only friend, her shield to the horrors of the high school boys, and the rest of the world besides, had become so important, so essential, she had started to wonder what their friendship really was. Was it a story of two girls, giggling their way through their teen years, or that of a stoic bodyguard to the larger than life celebrity?_

_But she knew that was a childish way to feel. Yu had an instrumental part in helping her realise that, discovering and working through that shadowy side of herself. She was going to be a better friend to Yukiko, and was starting to be better to herself._

_Still, she couldn't help but be surprised Yu had taken up her offer. Training by the river sounded like hard work to the other people she discussed her exercise routine with, and it had only come up by accident when talking to the grey-haired transfer student. Yet, here he was, with her, ready to get to work. She told herself the sweat in her palms was from her drills._

_She started running through the fundamentals. Chie was pleased to see he moved his body with every strike; he was making a real effort, and his technique was improving with every motion. "You sure you haven't done this before?" She teased slightly._

_"I don't think so" he replied, going through the punches she had shown him, "Unless I actually am black belt, who was far too lax about head protection." He twirled his index finger around his temple, with a small smile._

_His humour was dry, a form she usually found grating, but he found a way to make it sound assured. Mature. Strong. "Whatever," she groaned playfully, "I just think you're one of those people whose good at everything. You answer every question in class after all."_

_He lowered his arms after a final swing, and turned to face the girl, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't think so, you haven't seen my cooking yet."_

_"You haven't seen mine," she countered, moving over to the bench near them, and gesturing him over. "Break time."_

_He sat down beside her, and they were quite for a while, simply listening to the river, and Chie avoiding snatching glances at the handsome boy to her left. "You're a good teacher," he said suddenly._

_She wasn't used to praise, and her expression grew befuddled. "Eh?"_

_"It's true," he insisted. "Your passion really shines through, it makes me want to improve. That's a powerful thing. Not many people can really focus what they love into that positive energy." He nodded firmly. "You're something special."_

_She could swear her ears were burning. She tried using bravado to contain her internal girlish squealing. "You're not too bad yourself!" She clapped him roughly on the back. "I'll make a man of you yet!" A thought rushed through her brain before she could stop it, leaving her a whole new shade of pink. 'Can't you make a woman of me?'_

"Those murders…" Labrys shivered, shaking her head. "Must've been scary."

Chie leant her head back on the wall. "It affected everybody in town, even in tiny ways, it was there, the idea you could be next." She scratched at her knee and exhaled. "I think they made everything with Yu more intense, which only made things worse afterwards..."

Her friend pulled a face. "I'll be honest, that all sounded like everything out of a movie. 'Cept for your best friend. Did you patch things up in the end?"

The brunette got to her feet, sighing. "Oh we did then. It was a real non-issue looking back on it."

"Oh. What's the matter?" Labrys asked, feeling her friend already growing more distant. "Did she steal him from you or somethin'?" She guessed, regretting her callous tone as the words left her mouth.

Chie's stare told Labrys the answer was both that simple but somehow much more complicated. "Look, I'll tell you more later, alright? It's a lot to go through in one go."

Her tired smile was obviously forced, but the maid was glad she was opening up, and at least trying to be chipper about it. "Alright. You got more of the grounds to scout, right? I'll leave you to it." Chie waved in farewell, but before the older girl could move away, she found herself wrapped in a tight embrace. "I'm glad you're talking," She whispered, "It's nice to hear thoughts that aren't mine…"

She pulled away, and the martial artist watched her as she trudged back to the mansion, to whatever duties were calling her. Knowing she had her own to perform, she turned on her heels, and carried on through her route, crisscrossing the garden. She was walking slightly easier than before, the burden on her shoulders, her anguish of the last few years, somehow being lightened

At the dead of night, in the mansion's Laboratory, Fuuka and Mitsuru had already carried out the more covert side of their operation. Labrys lay on the table, a wire stuck in her neck. Her visor, reminiscent of the medieval knights of Europe, was visible on her forehead, the Kirijo's groups concealment device being turned off for convenience sake. Fuuka was sure seeing her friend in her true form during her mechanical check-ups only made it harder for her to keep up her own part in the deception, but it was unavoidable. You have to be able to see a model before it could be painted.

Scouring the girl's memory banks was an entirely different breach of her moral code however. She had convinced herself, with prodding from Mitsuru, that the girl's situation was preferable in blissful ignorance, but this used that ignorance for their personal gain. _Of course_, Fuuka reminded herself, _it's not really our 'personal' gain…_

Mitsuru believed in doing whatever was possible in finding ways to combat the ever-present threat shadows posed to the general public, in some ways only possible for her. Fuuka believed the same, however, she sometimes pined for her early days in S.E.E.S, where the enemy was obvious, and there was no thoughts required into personal ethics.

Mitsuru's voice brought Fuuka back to work. "What is this about a string of murders in Inaba?"

The technician was disappointed she couldn't keep listening; she was becoming rather engrossed in Chie's love story. When she remembered she was looking at a private conversation rather than a film, she started talking, rather contemplating how perverse that was. "I've already looked into it, seeing as the subject's one unifying trait was their hometown, and, frankly, um, the killings were its only unusual news in the last few decades."

Her boss mulled this over for some drawn out seconds, ears still pricked to the recording. "And?"

"It's unusual. Only three deaths…" She cringed at her use of only. _Is that who I am now_, she thought sadly, _attributing the loss of three lives as a trivial event?_ "In any case," she continued, "One was the work of a copycat, but the other two were unique. No marks left on the bodies, or any trace of a killer that could be found by forensic analysis, and they were left hanging at TV antennas that would be by all accounts difficult to reach, especially when carrying such," she gulped, "A load."

"Interesting…" Mitsuru mused, scratching her chin. "Was a culprit found?"

"Yes, one of the detectives working on the case, who admitted to everything months after the killings. Apparently an earlier suspect was almost prosecuted, before the real killer confessed. There was also some hysteria surrounding an influx of fog around the town immediately prior to the culprit's capture…"

"Was there any information on his testimony?" The older woman asked. "His method?"

The blue-haired girl shook her head slowly. "Not in public databases…"

"Then go deeper. Get me a copy of the culprit's confession. Such strange events in a town that's generated at least two persona-users can't be coincidental." She got to her feet, and stared into the ceiling. "Hmm… How long ago were these murders?"

"They occurred over a period of two and three years ago."

Mitsuru smiled softly. "Our security guards would have been in high school, around the age we were when we had our own incidents to deal with." She roughly brushed some stray hair out of her eyes. "Perhaps it is always the young that are chosen for such power…" Failing to stifle a yawn, and blushing at Fuuka's giggle when she did so, she straightened herself. "I must retire for the evening. You can finish up here, Fuuka-san."

"Goodnight." When her boss left, she let out a sigh. There were some other technical tasks on Labrys that had to be completed before she could turn in. Disconnecting the wires that they used to see in her memories, performing some routine checks, and of course, ensuring the behaviour she had designed so she would essentially 'sleepwalk' back to her own room with minimal fuss was guaranteed to work. Labrys was certainly a lot of work to keep operational. She didn't give much thought to how it meant she neglected herself…


	8. Sleepover!

"So, this is going pretty well…"

It was a nothing statement, but Kanji had to agree with her. The security guards were stretched out on the beach, only a couple minutes' walk down a dirt path at the back of the mansion. They had been official employees of the Kirijo group for a couple of days now, but hadn't really had much time to talk, with having to adjust to their new duties. "Yeah," he said, "Kinda wish they'd make the chefs cook for us though. Can't live on the microwavable stuff in the staff lounge all year…"

Chie nodded. "Yeah. Guess we'll have to get some fruit and stuff ourselves. Oooh, we could have a rota, I cook one day, you the other!" She turned to him and grinned. "That'd be great!"

The blonde's stomach performed a double somersault. His time high school had taught him all about his senpai's most likely illegal experiments with food. "Uh, you know what? I think we'll be good. Saves us money to eat junk anyway, right?"

The martial artist adopted a strange expression. "You really care about that? With the money we're getting, we could eat the finest steaks for breakfast, lunch, and dinner?"

Kanji blanched. "All three of them? You can do that?"

Chie sighed happily. "That was a good day…"

He stared at her serene features for a few moments, and then shook is his head. "Can't. I wanna save some of it for Ma."

"Really?" Chie asked, staring over the ocean. "I thought the shop was doing pretty well, for post-Junes Inaba at least."

"It is," he admitted, "But I can't make those dumb dolls while I'm here. Gotta make up for that. Plus I feel like I owe her, y'know?"

Chie snorted, making her friend visibly annoyed. "Sorry," she apologised, "but my parents aren't seeing anything of what I earn. We're a 'once you're out your out' kinda family."

Kanji thought treating your own daughter like that was a little brutal "That seems pretty harsh."

"Nah," she brushed off, "I'm ready, and they know that. It's not absolute," she clarified, "I mean, if my house burned down I could move back in. We just like to have everyone be able to stand on their own two feet."

Kanji shrugged. He knew it was difficult to comprehend the ways of a family that isn't your own. "That's alright I guess." There was a peaceful quiet, the two partners watching the lap of the tide with a disinterest, the orange sun falling ever closer to its resting place for the night. Kanji couldn't think of the last time he could find a spot in Inaba where he could do this, where they could do this. Everywhere in the town had memories, and even places where the memories were only happy couldn't help but bring up the ones less so in tandem. He cursed quietly. _Crap. It's happening here too. _Now he had to bring it up. "You reckon you're happier here?" He asked bluntly.

Being lulled from her calm state with such a tricky question meant Chie took a few moments to find her answer. "I guess? I am thinking about the bad stuff," _Thank you Labrys, _she thought dully, "but I think I'm actually kicking back at it for a change. Like, I feel I could actually be happy here. There wasn't a chance of that back home." She sighed, trying to keep the bad thoughts at bay, and turned the tables on Kanji. "What about you? Still thinking about her?"

"About who?" He challenged, before remembering if anyone knew the extent of how he felt, it was Chie. "Sorry, force of habit." He mumbled, before speaking with total honesty. "Yeah. Not much different to home, 'course, she hadn't been there either. Doesn't help-" He clammed up.

Chie raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't help...?"

He sighed. "Promise me ya won't tell me I'm being dumb?" She didn't nod, but gestured him to continue. "Well, Fuuka, Labrys mentioned her, remember? She works in the Lab, so in my lab shift I see her all the time. A-and," he stuttered, a blush on his cheeks, "Her hair's blue too. I know it's dumb, but it keeps making me think of…"

"That's not stupid at all," Chie reassured him, sitting up and placing her nearest hand on his shoulder, "You won't believe how many old people I've started hating for the same reason." _Dark-haired people too, _she thought bitterly. "What's she like?" She asked, once again trying to distract her brain from going somewhere dark.

Kanji's expression was blank. "I dunno really. Doesn't talk much. So shy I guess? Makes things feel pretty awkward actually, since it's just me an' her."

"Wait, she's the only scientist?" Chie had pictured an army of geeks, assembling weapons of mass destruction for the glory of the Kirijo group. "What does she even do down there?"

"Not much from what I see. She's either reading or just fiddlin' with little doohickeys."

"Huh." She couldn't pretend to be too jealous; her patrol was a bit of a workout, but she remembered the couple shifts she had taken during Junes' busy season being much more stressful then her job had been so far. "Maybe it's a job for life kinda deal, Labrys did say she went to high school with Mitsuru, probably just doing her a favour." She had an idea. "You should ask her about Mitsuru in high school, it's always good to have dirt on your boss!"

Her friend tilted his head on the sand. "Little crass don'tcha think?"

She stood up and shrugged. "It's something you can talk about, then at least you won't be all awkward with eachother." She pointed inland. "I've gotta go meet up with Labrys, so I'll see you tomorrow I guess."

She began to walk, but Kanji's voice stopped her. "Wait, why wasn't I invited?"

"Girl's sleepover," Chie explained, "She's never had one before and looked pretty excited. I think she wants it to be like the ones from the movies."

Kanji propped himself on his elbows. "So junk food and pillow fights?"

"Sounds like it. See ya!"

"Wait that sounds fun!" He yelled to her.

"No boys allowed," she called, "You can catch up on your knitting!" She left hearing the sounds of Kanji's mumbling, knowing fully well that one, he would be much better suited to getting invested in a girl's sleepover, and two, that he would be entirely happy with having his own intimate night with a ball of yarn.

_Shit, _the boy thought, throwing a rock out into the sea, _I should have remembered my goddamn needles._

Labrys' room was somewhat strange for Chie upon her first entering. It was identical to the ones she and Kanji had been provided, yet there was a couple years' worth of evidence that it held residence to a young girl, one who clearly had too much time on her hands.

There was no part of the wall that was bare, the dull white covered with bright posters, of TV shows and movies, from the biggest blockbusters of the decade, to low key productions Labrys must have taken a liking to. She had a bookshelf, made of a cheap wood that didn't match the rest of the furnishings at all, straining with the weight of books, manga, and DVD's. "You sure have a lot of stuff, Labrys-chan." Chie acknowledged, pleasantly surprised when she spotted a few martial arts movies in the collection.

"Eh," the maid shrugged, plopping down onto her bed, "it's not that many. There was a whole bunch of other stuff, but Takenowa threw a fit…"

"Seriously?" Chie rolled her eyes. "It's your room, you should be able to do what you want."

"According to him, as estate manager, he's my landlord. And, er," she blushed slightly, "It was kind of difficult for the other maids to actually get in to clean."

Her friend joined her, sitting at the foot of her bed, looking impressed. "That much? Damn. Wait, shouldn't you be cleaning your own room?"

"We're in the presence of the rich, Chie-chan, we shouldn't have to perform such petty chores! Keeps the maids in a job, that's what I think."

"But you _are_ a maid," Chie pointed out. "It is your job."

"So?" Labrys said incredulously. "No way am I gonna be the one cleaning my own room, that's like homework. Do you do a security sweep or whatever of yours?" Her pointed expression sent Chie's eyes down to the floor, leaving her rather smug. "Thought so. Okay!" She clapped, jolting her friend upright. "Sleepover!"

If Chie was honest, the exercise felt a little childish, but she knew with Labrys' amnesia, she would have a penchant for such things. "Yeah, woo…" If her friend was annoyed at the lack of enthusiasm in her voice, she didn't show it, and quickly reached under her bed and pulled out a colourful plastic package. "Hey, is that-"

"Giant marshmallows!" The girl announced, grinning widely. "I thought they'd be fun, then realised it might be a little sad to eat 'em on my own…" She trailed off, before quickly regaining her pep, and threw one of the huge white candies across. "But now you can share the food guilt with me!" Its size was incredible, just larger than Chie's fist. She inspected from multiple angles, twisting and squeezing, trying to work out how to even approach such a thing. A squelching sound drew her attention elsewhere, to the sight of Labrys, her mouth wide open and completely blank inside. Her jaw closed slowly, a low groan behind the wall of marshmallow showing how much effort it was taking, before snapping shut, with an uncomfortable gulp. She coughed and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, holding out the bag with a viscous glee. "So," she asked slyly, "How many can you fit in your mouth?"

Chie knew the girl was too innocent to grasp the potential implications of that phrase, and she couldn't contemplate that herself, too busy with working out the logistics of such a feat. She had almost won the famous 'Rainy Day Beef Bowl' challenge in Inaba, but this was a whole different beast. Her mealtime exploits had been devoted to the devouring of delicious carcass after carcass. Savoury, she was prepared for. Sweet, she was not. She had to test the waters. "How many did you have?"

Labrys held up her fingers. "Three." She stroked her chin, and looked her friend up and down. "But you're older, I reckon you could get four easy."

With the wink that accompanied that encouragement, Chie realised the maid may not be as innocent as she first thought. But the challenge had been set, and she had to rise to it. _Okay, so all at once, or one at a time? _She debated. _I could put them as fair back in my mouth as I can… Wait, I don't want to choke… _But remembering the pitter patter of rain on Aiya's window, she decided on her usual tactic. Brute force. She screwed her eyes shut and shook her arms, psyching herself up. "Here I go!"

Before she could tell herself otherwise, she stuffed fluffy blob after fluffy blob into her mouth, until the contingent of four was in, and a single tear rolled down Chie's cheek. "Wow, you actually did it!" Labrys exclaimed, moving closer. She poked the mass visible through the martial artist's wide open jaw, making all sorts 'Hmm,' and 'Ah,' noises, while Chie's protesting scream was muffled by what felt like miles of insulating marshmallow.

She managed to swat her gawping audience with an arm that was perhaps too strong, sending her tumbling to the floor. Chie didn't notice this, occupied with trying to clench her jaw and end her torture. It took her placing her hands on the top and bottom of her head and pushing with a ton of force, but eventually her upper and lower teeth met, and she repeated the motion, eventually breaking down her white Everest into more manageable but still horrible boulders. She swallowed the chunks, one by one, until her mouth was empty, rough, and panting. She feel down to her side, with a bounce on the mattress, mind as blank as the candy she had just somehow ingested.

"That was incredible!" She heard somewhere distant, tears in her eyes blurring out the face pressed almost right up to hers. A 'Buh?' was all she could manage, allowing the figure above her prattle on endlessly. "I mean, I knew you we're tough, but man, not that tough!" Chie felt a faint bump on her shoulder, which was more than enough in her state to roll her to her back, and start staring at the ceiling. "So, what's next?"

"Next?" She asked weakly.

"Yes next. Sleepover, remember?" Labrys held a finger over her friend and moved it back and forth, becoming slightly worried when her pupils didn't follow the motion. "Uh, do you need a doctor or summit? Mitsuru-chan's might be in."

Chie shook her head slowly, and groggily moved herself upright, head still feeling sway-y. "She has her own doctor?"

"Sure," Labrys nodded, "Like, she so much as has the sniffles in public the company stock goes down. People are fickle like that."

Once again, Chie was perturbed by how important her boss was. _I really need to find out more about her… _She looked at Labrys. _Well, this is a sleepover. _"Okay, so next." she started. "At sleepovers, people usually talk about other people, so I wanna know if you know anything interesting about Mitsuru-san!"

The maid's eyes brightened. "Oh, that's right, we are supposed talk about people!" She tapped her chin. "Lemme think... Ugh, Fuuka would be so good to have around right now…" She raised her hand. "I got one, she used to be engaged!"

"Engaged?" Mitsuru didn't like a person to let anyone that close, she was still so young, if she could believe it. "To who? What called it off?"

"Eh, some stooge at a rival company," Labrys replied dismissively. "Apparently it was supposed to bring them together, I dunno, sounds like some of that old fashioned crap. Get your princess to marry the enemy's prince, y'know?"

Chie had watched at least three kung-fu films with that premise, the twist being the couple both falling in true love and running away from both of their families, or the princess calling off the engagement in a flurry of kicks and punches. Naturally, now she pictured Mitsuru throwing those punches and kicks, and had to admit, in her mind's eye, it looked rather natural to her. "So I'm guessing she didn't like the guy and called it quits?"

"That's the gist," Labrys said, "though apparently it wasn't easy, lots of old men in the company who wanted it to go through, and this was before Mitsuru was really the de facto CEO."

The security guard thought for a few moments. "Wait, how long has she been running the company?

"A few years," Labrys answered. "Took over when her dad died… Still in high school, so you can guess how that went down with some of the brass back then."

"Wow. That's incredible…"

"Yeah, it's a real tale of dedication and perseverance," Labrys said in a faux-timid voice, "So Fuuka tells it anyway…" She snapped her fingers. "There's something about her, the dork completely fangirls over Mitsuru."

"Really? I get it I guess," Chie reasoned, "she's kinda impressive. Didn't you say she was her senpai? That would have had a lasting impression."

"You have no idea. She talks about this club Mitsuru was a head of that she join, and she taught her _so _many things about life and most importantly, _herself_." Her mocking tone made Chie a little uncomfortable, and she must have shown it. "Sorry. She's a really nice girl, but she can be a broken record sometimes. Okay, I'm done," She finished, pointing at Chie, "Your turn, though I guess I can only really ask you about Kanji-kun though."

"Oh, this is easy!" She looked over her shoulders in dramatic fashion, and whispered low. "He likes knitting, sewing, and most of all, stuffed animals." Labrys' eyelids were half closed; she was clearly unimpressed. "What?"

"C'mon, that's obvious. Guy as big as him is _obviously _a big softie at heart." She crossed her arms. "Ya got anything better?"

"Uhh," she struggled, before settling on appealing to Labrys' more violent tendencies. "He once beat up an entire biker gang because they were keeping his mom awake at night."

Labrys gasped. "That's so cool!" She giggled excitedly. "Still a softie because it was for his mom but still… How old was he?"

"Oh, 15…" Chie sad casually, widening the maid's eyes as expected.

"Holy crap! That's amazing! I should ask him how he did it, he isn't trained like you isn't he?"

She thought back to their adventures in the TV world. "Not in a manner of speaking…"

"Man… He must've just done it on pure power." She started boxing the air in front of her. "He should teach me how to throw a punch!"

A thought flashed across Chie's mind. "You can't ask him about it though," she said hurriedly.

"Aw," she whined in disappointment, "why not?"

"It just reminds him of a time he was stupider, more reckless. A…" she paused, "Friend, helped him go through it. Anyway, its personal, you didn't hear it from me, yadda yadda."

But Labrys had picked up on her hesitation. "Friend? Ooooh, is it your grey haired loverboy again or someone else?"

Chie clenched her teeth, annoyed both by her friend's directness, and the fact merely thinking of Yu could still set her on edge like this. "Yeah. It is."

"Alright," Labrys nodded, noticing the straining tendons in her friend's neck. "We need to go through part two of 'Chie's bad breakup'. First kiss time!"

Her candour once again threw Chie, thankfully off her rage train. "W-what?"

"C'mon, you were all over him when you finished the story last time. Who pulled the trigger, you or him?" She pondered for a moment, and winked. "It was you, wasn't it?"

"Ugh, are you calling me a slut?" Chie snapped, getting tired of the teasing tone, and looked away immediately as the words come out. "Sorry, it's just… You have no idea…"

"Hey," her friend said soothingly, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "No I don't. So you gotta tell me." She grinned. "And then I can hate the guy like you do!"

Chie smiled softly, and continued her tale. "Alright, so, we were training at the river as usual, right, and…"

_Weeks passed, and things only became stranger, what with the fervour of the murder case sweeping through Inaba, and Chie's blossoming relationship with one Yu Narukami, fanned by their meetings by the river. The duo had become quite confident during their journey in the martial arts, and when they heard rumours of a gang of hoodlums in the shopping district, Chie was indignant. "They're scumbags!" She declared. "Someone should teach them a lesson…" _

_Narukami shook his head, sat at their usual bench. "The police can't do much in an area like this, too many connections. It's much easier to give your nephew a slapped wrist than a caution, avoids an argument in the family…"_

_Frustrated, Chie kicked at the dirt. "Hell to that, we can stop them!"_

_Yu's smirk had an amazing quality of always being not quite condescending, so never became grating. "How?"_

_"I don't know…" Chie mumbled, hunching down in her seat. "We could like, patrol I guess. See anyone causing trouble and tell them to stop."_

_Her friend nodded solemnly, and simply said "Ok."._

_For Chie, the walk to the shopping district was punctuated with an ever rising tension. She wasn't Kanji Tatsumi, the thug rumoured to have taken out an entire biker gang, she was Chie Satonaka, part time kung-fu enthusiast who wasn't even professionally trained. She was comforted by Yu however, despite his silence; he was stoic, as ever, and carried a certain strength on his shoulders._

_Their arrival was anticlimactic, lacking the prowling hoodlums and burning trash cans she had found in her overactive imagination. Honestly, the pair just wandered for half an hour, an hour, talking about anything, the murders, their childhoods, their dreams, and soon Chie forgot why they were roaming from the river at all._

_"-so then Yukiko said…" She stopped, eyes locking to a spot down an alley to her right, only looking over there to avoid Yu's cloud-like eyes, and stop herself from trying to read too much into them. There was a shadowy threesome, looming over a boy that in comparison was impossibly small. She moved on instinct at this point, forgetting all about Yu, and stalked towards the group with the aura of a lioness. "Hey!"_

_The boys all turned, including their prey, whose knees were shaking and nose was running. The older ones were all the same type, clothes that were too large, obnoxious caps, and a tiny gold earring that made them oh so edgy. As did their language. "Well, what does this bitch want?" one muttered loudly._

_"This 'bitch'," Chie growled, stopping just a few paces before them, "Thinks you should pick on someone your own size."_

_There was silence, as the punks shuffled in their shoes. "Well," one piped up, "Your boyfriend's too much of a wimp to put up a fight, and you aren't nothin', girly."_

_They started laughing, scoffing at the newcomers, making Chie flush hot, and forcing her to put every effort in keeping her arms and legs by their sides. "Wait a second boys," one of the thugs said, "This fucker's got grey hair. He must be that new kid." His team chorused with 'oh yeahs' and he smiled. "From what I hear, you're livin' with your uncle 'cus your mom's too busy sucking dicks."_

_The 'oohs' and hand gestures the guy's cronies followed up with may have provoked a reaction in Chie, but it certainly didn't with Yu. Gripping her arm, preventing her from doing anything rash, and smiled sweet as sugar. "That's funny, because I hear your dad's in the same business." _

_It was a cheap rise, everyone knew it, even the kid, but it broke the punk's composure, so he looked for a rise somewhere else. "You're lame. This chick however…" He looked her up and down, licking his lips in the foulest manner possible. "Covered in green. She's Yuki-chan's bitch." And of course, with the mere mention of 'the Amagi Challenge', everyone had to join in._

_"Oooh, can you get us a date?"_

_"Man, I bet she's a total slut in bed…"_

_"I hear the inn's actually a 'massage parlour'."_

_"I should book a room some time…"_

_"I hear their food is incredible. Five star." Yu's out of the blue statement at last broke the chain, leaving everyone staring at him. "And the gardens are supposed to be gorgeous." Chie only realised when she look down that he had two hands on her now, gripping her even more securely. She was angry at him for a moment, before seeing she already tried making a stride with her right leg, her foot set down on the ground mid stride._

_The bullies were all eyeing Yu with suspicion. "…Well, anyway, why don't you two run along now. You don't want us to pay Yuki-chan a visit, do ya?"_

_Now they had crossed a line. Nobody threatened Yukiko. Not teachers, not animals, and certainly not lowlife idiots. She tried to move forward, but Yu still held her, and she turned back to him, ready to scream a barrel of obscenities. But seeing his face, she couldn't yell. Even in a tense situation, it was calm, tranquil, states that were soon overriding Chie's red tinted mind. Then, after what felt like hours, he simply nodded, and released his grip._

_She stumbled forwards, which the boys jeered of course, but this time, it didn't make her angry. They were sad, perilously sad, and, as unlikely as it seemed a few minutes ago, she wasn't going to stoop to their level. "So you want us to leave huh? And you want to pick on this kid?" She strode past them coolly, and stood right in front of the kid, who had been frozen on the spot for the entire exchange. "Then you'll have to go through me."_

_The boy closest frowned. "What? Just move bitch."_

_He stepped closer, while she stood like a rock. "No. I won't fight back," she offered, "Honest. Get me in the gut, the face, whatever you want, I won't do anything. But I won't budge. I am __**not**__ letting you hurt him."_

_Her speech had been lost on her audience, who just looked frustrated. "Move already!" One tried cutting past her but she stepped to the side, and snarled. The punks all looked at each other, knowing it was three on one effectively, but beating on a girl was fundamentally not cool, especially when she wouldn't fight back. "Wait a second…" One of the boys pointed at Yu. "Ain't his uncle a cop or somethin'? Doji-whatever."_

_Yu simply shrugged, but the thugs decided it had gotten to the point where this just wasn't worth it. "Let's just go guys. Bitch clearly loves younger dudes." While his cronies laughed, they stopped when Chie stuck her leg out, making their leader trip in the process of his exit. He yelled in pain, and got right up to stare her down, but the fire in her eyes confirmed this kid was really not worth the effort._

_So they left. Leaving Yu, Chie, and an incredibly uncomfortable boy. "Um, thanks." He offered, before promptly scarpering, leaving the girl breathing heavily, and a few steps from her classmate._

_"How do you feel?" Yu asked casually._

_"I… feel…" She panted, "Wonderful. Well, a little sick right now but…" She started to grin. "We just helped that kid. Well, I know it was mostly you, but…"_

_"Chie," he said seriously, "I would have never noticed what was going on in the first place, and I would never step in like you did. That was what chased them away, not my uncle. That was incredibly brave."_

_She blushed slightly at that assessment. "I just feel like… This I want to do. Protect people. Yukiko-chan, that kid, and… You." She added, completely abashed. "I want to be there for you. When you need me. And maybe even when you don't…"_

_Before she knew it, Yu was in front of her, tantalisingly close, and asking the last question she ever thought he would. "Will you be my girlfriend?"_

_Straight. Direct. And utterly absurd. "Wait… You know this is me, right?"_

_"That's the point," he said, stepping even closer, taking her hand. "It's because you're you, and that's what makes you amazing." He stroked her cheek with his free hand, and Chie was suddenly paralysed, and much more afraid than she was ten minutes ago. "You're strong, determined, and beautiful, and I know you don't believe that last one," he smiled as she snorted, "but you are. So, I'll ask again…" He didn't actually, moving down to touch their lips. She didn't move hers at all at first, mind entirely blank. Then they started moving on their own, wrapping round his, moving in tandem, as her hands wrapped around and clenched his back._

_Eventually they broke apart, and a red Chie looked up to Yu, uttering only two words. "God yes."_

"Wow, that's amazing," Labrys gushed, clapped, "this was even more like a movie!"

"The feeling when helping those people…" Chie said quietly, still smiling from the memory. "Honestly, it's why I wanted to become a cop. Protect people. Keep bad people from causing problems to those who don't deserve it."

Labrys couldn't help but be in awe. "Wow, Chie, you're amazing! I wish I knew what I was doing with myself. Sometimes I just feel stuck here…"

The maid sighed, and Chie felt incredibly sorry for her. "Hey," she said, making eye contact. "No depressing crap, remember?"

"Oh, yeah," Labrys remembered. "Forgot about that. Okay," Labrys clicked her fingers, and said, apropos of nothing, "It's past midnight, time to get dirty! First time?"

Chie was snapped wide awake, and scotched down the bed, away from her friend. "W-what are you even asking?"

"You know what I'm talking about," Labrys teased, "Unless you never…"

"Well we did." She coughed. "I mean, I have. But I'm not sure I…"

"Come on, I'm not getting sex-ed from any other girl round here. Jeez, Fuuka would probably explode. And I can't use the internet; the stuff on there just gets weird." She looked at her friend with pleading eyes. "Just help me. I gotta learn. Plus, it's perfect sleepover material!"

Chie wasn't entirely comfortable, but she couldn't say no to those eyes. Or alternatively, just figured she was already sharing, so she might as well go all in. "O-okay. It happened one day. I went over to his…"

_She was over at Yu's. It hadn't been the first time, they had been dating for a couple months now, and she'd been to his house before, playing with Nanako-chan, or just cuddling in his room, but today felt different. Probably because they were alone, with no Dojima's to speak of, and what felt worse, it really excited her. There they were, watching a particularly crappy martial arts film, a cover over them, though it wasn't particularly cold. She was curled up against him, head on his breastbone, and she just couldn't concentrate on the film, and not just because of its quality. She was just far more interested in the man besides her. Deciding enough was enough, she rolled over and took Yu's lips into her own, and after a long drawn out kiss, started pecking the top of his chest, visible through the two open buttons at the top of his shirt. "You must really like that part." He quipped quietly, earning a smack on the arm._

_"Exactly." She said, in between her kisses. "The. Opposite." Then he held her, gently moving her away, and returned her gesture, slowly kissing his way down her neck, and down to her chest, though avoiding intruding on the breasts below. She sighed happily, but it wasn't enough. Today, she needed more. She edged her body upwards, her boyfriend startled by a face full of her womanhood. But he didn't stop, fully understanding her cue, sinking his lips deeper into her skin, moving a hand to cup- "Wait." She said weakly, slowly, and with regret, moving away from him._

_Yu, being the perfect gentleman, let her go without complete. "Sorry, did I read something wrong? I thought…"_

_"You thought right," Chie quietly reassured him, "But…"_

_"It's okay." He said soothingly, placing a hand on her knee. "Whenever you're ready, I will be."_

_"But I am." She took his hand in both of hers. "Yu, I love you."_

_"And I love you," he concurred, a phrase that always sent Chie's heart a flutter, while he placed his other hand over hers. "You know that, right?"_

_"Sure I do, it's just…" She exhaled, and closed her eyes. "I know I think I'm ready, but am I really ready?"_

_"Chie." He said sincerely. "I have everything we need. And we can take it slow. I want to enjoy every second, with you."_

_He was so collected, so prepared, so wonderful, Chie finally relented. "I'm ready." She said, standing up, holding her hands in hers. "Are you moving?"_

_"I was thinking why not down here," Yu murmured rather brashly._

_Chie frowned and placed a hand on her hip. "Yu Narukami, I am NOT losing my virginity on the same couch your cousin sits on when she watches Junes commercials."_

_In hindsight, it was a red flag when he paused for a scant few seconds before saying "Neither am I." He smirked, knowing she was right, and allowed himself to be lead up the stairs, and spend a long time with Chie…_

"Then you took off your clothes…"

"Obviously."

"And he got close."

"Yes…"

"So wait, he-"

"That's how it works."

"But then it makes you-"

"It's only the first time."

"But then did you do-"

"Jesus, no, it was the first time."

"But how did it make you feel?"

Chie had to think for a while, before sighing her answer. "Better than anything."

_Naked, panting, tangled in his sheets, Chie never guessed when looking at the transfer student this would be where she found true happiness. Looking up to her boyfriend, she told him "I love you."_

_"I figured you would afterwards," he smirked, only harder when he felt a weak kick under the sheets._

_"Arrogant bastard… But," she admitted, "You were amazing."_

_He kissed the top of her head tenderly. "So were you."_

_Things were peaceful, wonderfully so, for a blissfully long time. Eventually, Chie found it in her to ask a question. "Yu?"_

_"Yeah?"_

_"Will be together…" She knew the next word was tacky, and probably too much, but she had to ask. "Forever?"_

_She looked up to him, and their eyes locked, and he spoke completely seriously. "However long I can be here with you. And I will be trying my hardest to stay." Chie snuggled closer to him, for the first time in her life, feeling entirely safe, secure, and hopeful, for her future. _

_It was only a few months later it all went to shit._

"Damn," Labrys cursed.

"I know. Sorry to end it on a depressing note but-"

"Not that." She interrupted. "Sex sounds amazing. Now I have to get a boyfriend and everything…"

"That's what you got out of that?" Chie asked in disbelief. "'I gotta get me some of that'?"

"Totally, I know your trying to talk about how bad it is, but-" She stopped in her tracks, her diminutive sense of tact pricking her. "Oh, how could something so good turn into something so bad, uh, it must be so horrible…" she rushed out unconvincingly.

"Yeah." Chie said unimpressed. "I'm not going any further today, I can't…"

"That's great, because we have another sleepover activity to do!" She pointed over to her stacked bookshelf. "We watch a bad movie and laugh at it."

Chie smiled. "You know, that sounds good right now…"

* * *

><p><em>AN- Yeah, I diverted a little from canon here, but I wanted to speed things up. I got most of the 'happy' flashback done now, it might feel a little rushed, but I wanted to move on to what the core of Chie and Yu's relationship is in this fic. Besides, divergence is interesting! But as usual, tell me what you think, about that, the story as a whole, my writing, anything. I love feedback, so if anyone could find some time to give some, I'd be grateful! <strong>-WN<strong>_


	9. High School

Kanji was beginning to find the daily patrol of the laboratory a big waste of his time. It was easy, simply ticking off a checklist that Fuuka handed to him every morning about what was actually around, but the fact was with only one scientist working here nothing was ever really out of place. There might be some food wrappers out from the night before, but Fuuka always popped up and insisted on clearing up her own mess, all the while apologising profusely. Kanji liked manners, not formalities, but the simple decency of being nice to other people. She took it to a whole new level.

Today for instance. He had walked in the facility, still excited by the simple thrill of having to press a security panel to open the door, and spotted his supervisor leant back in her chair. Snoring. He walked over to her, quietly, keeping his distance. He squinted as he got near her, arms by her side, head lolled in a position that must have been uncomfortable. If he knew her better, he might have nudged her a little, so she wouldn't wake up with a crick in her neck, though, waking her up would just be far too awkward. He smirked when he saw a little bit of drool roll off her chin. _Shit, she's really out of it, _he noticed, kind of wishing he was having a nice snooze himself. Still, he had a job to do.

He tiptoed to her desk and made his way around her, looking for the drawer he was sure she pulled his inventory form out of last time. Picking one essentially at random, he was disappointed to find documents with far too many words to remotely interesting, and that weird gun again. He had looked up the show she said it was for, having nothing much to do while Chie and Labrys had their sleepover, (_Which I am __still__ pissed for not being invited to by the way, _he thought sourly), and finding nothing, which was a little odd, since it was the internet, but he knew some things did fall through the cracks.

He closed the drawer and went for the one below, surprised when he was greeted by yet another one of those guns. Thought it was the exact same design as the other, it was scuffed in more than a few places, yet was still infinitely more polished than its brother. More curiously, the Kirijo group logo, which now he thought about it, would be weird to find on cosplay accessory, was replaced by another, for something called 'S.E.E.S.'. _Man, her stuff makes no sense, _Kanji thought dismissively, pushing the drawer shut and going for the one below it.

He hit his jackpot, and pulled out one of the inventory forms. Creeping away from Fuuka, he started his work as usual, moving clockwise around the lab, mindlessly checking that all the weird little things were in the right places, there was the right amount of them, and so on. Half an hour in, he had been nicely dulled into doing the task on autopilot, before a groaning from the middle of the room turned his attention elsewhere.

"Urnnn…?" She sounded completely adorable, and looked it too, shielding her eyes from the harsh white light of the basement, and stretching with a wide yawn. "What time is it?" She wondered groggily. "I was only reading those reports for a short while… Let's see," she hummed, "I was just looking into the incident in Kyoto when I rested my eyes for a moment and-" Her eyes spotted Kanji, leaning on the table, glancing towards her, and she squealed. "Ah!"

She jerked up from her seat, gripping the armrests, promptly coming back down clutching her chest, panting. "Uh… Good morning?" Kanji offered, scratching the back of his head.

"Good," she gulped, "Morning, Tatsumi-san." As if something else had poked out to scare her, she jumped out of her seat and bowed low, speaking with a rapid tongue. "I am so sorry Tatsumi-san I am your superior and should be setting an example- not that I'm actually superior I mean of course I wouldn't imply that but what I am trying to insinuate-"

She was talking so quickly Kanji didn't know where he could jump in to turn the damn thing off. She managed to babble on for a couple minutes before she noticed the security guard's outstretched palm. "S'okay. At my last job Ma always found me face first in whatever project I spent the night on. Same in school. And the food court now I think about it…"

Fuuka managed to smile a little, regaining her usual posture. "Still, I apologise… The light down here isn't conducive to a natural sleep schedule…" She explained, shifting awkwardly.

"I bet, could get a tan down here…" Kanji joked, easing the woman away from making yet another long winded apology. "You must really like your job if you pull an all-nighter for it."

Fukka laughed, which morphed into a slow sigh as she sat back down. "Usually I do, but my job kind of requires… Other things, to happen, before I can really be useful. So at times like now all I can do is look over what's happened before, so we're ready for next time…"

"Next time," Kanji repeated inquisitively, as Fuuka winced at her slip, "Time for what?"

"Oh, er, just business stuff mostly," she shrugged. She had realised that a vague blanket cover all statement would probably be more effective than being forced to make up random lies on the spot to explain the stranger aspects of the Kirijo group to its' two newcomers. "Stuff that's much to boring to really explain."

Kanji wouldn't let the matter lie however. "Well, I got time down here," he said, waving the inventory form, "I know I ain't that sharp, but…"

_Darn, _Fuuka cursed. _Lying is so much harder than I thought… _"What I mean is, Tatsumi-san, completely irrelevant to your, I am confident, more than sufficient mental faculties," she added timidly, "I, um, find the subject boring. So why don't we talk about something else?" She had to restrain herself from punching the air. _Good job Fuuka!_

Being shut down so completely was a little surprising, but he definitely had one thing to talk about. "Whatever. First off though? I ain't 'Tatsumi-san', I'm Kanji."

As he thumbed to himself, Fuuka smiled a little, and nodded. "Okay, and so it's fair, I'm Fuuka. Please don't call me Fuuka-san, even if I am your supervisor…" She shivered. "It makes me feel… Old."

A sentence like that begged for an actual figure, but if one lesson Mrs. Tatsumi had forced on her son stuck, it was that women and their age made for a volatile topic. "Sure. Still find it weird I'm eighteen…" He folded his arms. "I mean, I ain't nowhere near bein' an adult yet, but law says I gotta be one in a couple years..."

"I'm sure you'll find your way," Fuuka said approvingly, "Though if I'm being honest, twenty just passed me by. I guess I must have been working…"

_Man, do you do anything but work? _Kanji thought. He then remembered Chie's advice by the beach. "It's just I was still at school like, three months ago," He segued in lumbering fashion, "and now I'm here… What was your high school like Fuuka?"

"Oh! Um…" A reoccuring problem she had with her time at Gekkoukan high was that there was only a very small pool of people she could actually discuss it with freely. "It was… Very modern. Right in the middle of Tatsumi Port Island, and it was actually owned by the Kirijo group so its funding was always more than adequate."

"Ours was crap," Kanji replied candidly, "Was just a big buildin' right in the middle of farmland. Whole think looked like it came out of the budget catalogue. Prolly did too, no one gives a shit about the countryside."

"Hmm," Fuuka pondered, tapping her chin, "I never really considered the advantages I had of going to a privately owned school…" She thought for a few moments. "Perhaps the government should be focussing on reaching a similar standard?"

"Yeah, or you guys could just make crappier schools so we don't look as bad," Kanji replied, smiling.

While it was an obvious joke, Fuuka moved back in her chair in horror. "That would be awful! Education is really important, it's what makes us, well, people."

To say the security was unconvinced by that would be an understatement. "Nah, it was always the stuff outside'a class that made me."

"But your qualifications!" The scientist insisted. "The lessons you learnt!" _S.E.E.S was technically a school club, _she pondered, _would that count? _She nodded firmly. "If I didn't go to my Gekkoukan, I wouldn't be where I am today."

"Ain't that just from knowing Mitsuru-san from there though?" He subsequently clamped a large hand over his mouth, realising how tactless he'd sounded. "Shit- I mean, 'course you're talented and know stuff, but isn't it always, like, knowing people which is- Fuck."

Fuuka wasn't accustomed to seeing someone else get flustered, and giggled, which only made boy's face redder. "Hehe, it's okay," she reassured, with a wide grin on her face, "it's kind of true. Our relationship puts me in a unique place for this position."

She had confused him again. "Uh," he droned, squinting slightly, "like how?"

"Business stuff."

"Oh, okay." Her expression was stern in a frightening way, and he quickly changed topics. "So, uh, what was Mitsuru like when she was younger? Chie said I should get dirt on the boss or summit."

The researcher rolled her eyes. "You won't find any. She was a model student, even more so than me, and I never stepped out of line!"

"You're telling me she was a bit stuffy then?"

"Not at all!" Fuuka objected. "She was just a lot more involved, and it wasn't just because her family owned the school! She was the student council president and another club I was part of, as well as always getting the best grades. You know she can speak fluent English, and even French?"

Kanji just scowled. "Don't talk to me about languages. Almost didn't graduate 'cus of 'em." He could clearly see there were no juicy secrets- Mitsuru seemed to be as dominant in everything during high school to the same degree she was now. "So much else go on there?"

"Oh lots-" _Which I can't talk about, _she thought blankly. "Um, Akihiko was one of my friends, and he was the captain of the boxing team. He was obsessed with getting stronger and winning everything. This one time, he and Junpei-kun decided to have a beef bowl contest, Junpei barely managed one, but Sanada-senpai went through three!"

"Dude sounds like Chie's dream man," Kanji quipped. "What else?"

"Another time, Junpei-kun was getting on Yukari-chan's nerves, and because she does archery, she bet him she could shoot an apple off of his head! Minato-kun," she paused for a second, eyes glazing over as she said his name. "Sorry. So Minato-kun sort of bullied him into it, and the arrow just missed Junpei's face. We're still not completely sure if she wanted to miss the apple…"

Her offhanded retelling of a story where a man almost got an arrow through his forehead left Kanji wide-eyed. "Jeez. Worst that could happen in Inaba was Chie kickin' ya in the nuts. Or any of the girl's cooking…"

"Shinjiro-san could cook," she said, eyes glazing over once again, "One time I walked into our dorm, and he was totally watching a cooking programme but pretending to be asleep, I'm sure of it! He never really let us try anything though…"

Kanji tilted his head in concern. "You okay? Ya kinda zoned out a couple times there."

Fuuka tried to nod, but her smile was sorrowful. "Sorry. Shinjiro-san and Minato-kun were really good people. They were important to us, and…"

She looked straight to the floor, looking so small that Kanji's heart cracked right along the middle. "Shit, sorry, I shouldn't have said anythin'…"

"No." She said firmly, her strength seemingly coming from nowhere. "It happened years ago, I should be moving forward, it would be what they wanted." She grabbed her upper arm shyly. "They both died in my first year. I'd only really known them for a few months, but it still…"

Of course, Kanji was stumped. He'd had his own share of tragedy in the past, whether it was fair or otherwise, but even with the battles he'd faced during the Inaba murders, the death of his friends was a possibility only perilously close, and it was a mercy that the threats were never followed through. "Must've been tough," he said carefully.

Fuuka sighed. "One day they were there, the next..." She shook her head. "The funny thing is we're all like this, every time we think of them. I mean, Akihiko and Yukari-senpai were always much stronger than me, I would have thought they would..." She bit her lip and looked up at the ceiling. "Even Mitsuru-san..."

"If people are special to ya it's hard to let 'em go," Kanji murmured. Only realising after a few seconds that he'd actually said anything, and had actually gotten listened to, he continued. "Sounds completely normal t' me. Shit takes time, an' a lot at that."

"You're right," she inhaled, breathing out slowly. "Thank you." She looked back up to him. "So, were there any eventful occurrences during your high school education?"

"There was a cross dressing pageant-" He stopped himself before he could run his mouth any further about that shitshow. "Not really! Er, as I said, I think it's the stuff outside of there that counts. Hell, I ditched a lot in my first year…"

Upon hearing this, the woman's jaw dropped. "You ditched?!"

"Uh, yeah?"

"But how?" Fuuka spluttered. "Surely your parents would have known? The teachers too, and then they would have send the truancy officer…"

"Wait a sec," he stopped her, waving a hand, "They were supposed to care?" He slapped his forehead. "Now I'm offended they didn't put the effort in…"

"Surely your parents would have punished you," she said incredulously, "School is important."

_Spoken like a real nerd, _Kanji thought wryly. "Actually no," he said, "Not really sure why now I think about it... She gave me free rein all over really, 'cept when it came to the shop."

"Your family ran a business?" Fuuka said. "That's impressive."

"Yeah, Tatsumi Textiles. Only one of 'em town, got a fair bit of business." _Business I made, _he thought dismally. Biting his tongue, and annoyed that actually saying it still took a lot of effort, he made his confession. "I… actually made some of the stock."

Fuuka's eyes practically budged out of their sockets. "Really? Wow, you have to teach me!" Fuuka exclaimed, "I have all the equipment and material already and I've been wanting to learn embroidery and knitting for so long but everything begins to fray or I try something to hard or I prick my finger and oh can you please?"

Kanji felt two emotions, first off a little bit of fear, overwhelmed by his supervisor's extreme enthusiasm, and second being an intense relief, that this wouldn't be yet another girl making him feel like he was strange or completely ashamed of his unconventional hobby. "Uh, Great! Actually I forgot to bring my stuff so I'm a little out of practice." He let his mind run away with him. "Shit, I can make that doll for Chie, wait I can spruce our uniforms up a little, dude, I can make some cute as hell cushions!"

"Oh, that all sounds amazing!" Fuuka gushed in admiration. "When can we get started?"

"Well, um…" he drawled. It hit him at that moment that he would actually be having to teach her, show her everything from the fundamentals to the more complex movements, and that wouldn't be easy. But dammit, if he could teach Nanako to make a cute little dog, he could teach this genius to do anything! "Tomorrow, I guess? I think I need to think up some sort of lesson plan, can't do this shit on a dime," he said seriously, with Fuuka nodding with a similar fervour. "When I do stuff, I do it right."

"I agree with that approach," Fuuka said, but her voice began to waver. "It's a lot to learn though, isn't it?"

"'Course," Kanji grunted, thumping his chest, "But your bein' taught by the best there is. On this island right now at least. No reason to freak out."

_His confidence is really quite something,_ Fuuka thought brightly. Sure, the last time she really tried to learn a new skill were Shinji's occasional cooking lessons, with only passable results, but this time she felt something different, a feeling that she would get something bigger out of this particular piece of tuition. "Your right! I'm be looking forward to studying under you," She said, smiling. A quick look downwards however wiped it right off of her face. "Hmmm, I still have so much of this to read…"

Kanji shrugged. "S'cool. Get your stuff done so we got time tomorrow. I still gotta finish this off," he pointed out, waving the inventory form.

Fuuka nodded, and resigned herself to digesting pages upon pages of mostly useless information, while Kanji moved on with his incredibly pointless bookkeeping exercise. But time after time, they kept coming back to how nice the next day would be, to learn, to teach, to do something different from their dull, daily routine.


End file.
